MATCH Act of 2026

Summary of HR 8183 (MATCH Act of 2026)

Purpose and intent

The Modernizing Access to Talents, Credentials, and Hiring Act of 2026 (MATCH Act of 2026) amends the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to establish and promote the development of talent marketplaces. The goal is to improve the matching of workers, students, and jobseekers with employment and learning opportunities, while enhancing data infrastructure, interoperability, and transparency around workforce data.

Key provisions

• Introduction of a Talent Marketplace (Section 2)

  • Defines a “talent marketplace” as an ecosystem of publicly and privately owned platforms that are interconnected and, where appropriate, interoperable and based on open standards. Features include:
  • Public access and use to match individuals with employment and learning opportunities within a state or interstate consortium.
  • Access to user-provided information such as education/training providers, employers, jobseekers, students, and others.
  • Inclusion of learning and employment records, a credential registry, and a skills profile generator.
  • Credential Registry: A process to publicly describe the skills, competencies, and learning outcomes associated with credentials using standardized terminology.
  • Learning and Employment Record (LER): A digital, machine-readable record of an individual’s education and employment history, controllable by the individual, verifiable by employers/providers, and using standardized terminology.
  • Skills Profile Generator: Tool to create a skills profile for employment, hiring, or education.
  • Standardized Terminology: A public, interoperable set of terms for describing skills/credentials, aligned with a recognized skills framework to ensure consistency across marketplaces.

• Workforce Data Quality Initiative (Section 2, added subsection 169(d))

  • Establishes a grant program allocating 5–10% of available funds from section 132(a)(2)(A) (and any additional funds) to support:
  • Creation of workforce longitudinal data systems, talent marketplaces, and related resources.
  • Assistance to states in improving program quality, decision-making, performance reporting, privacy protection, and transparency of labor market trends and in-demand skills.
  • Grant eligibility and priorities:
  • Eligible entities: state agencies or consortia including multi-state data collaboratives that manage wage records, labor market information, and program administration.
  • Priority for entities:
    • In states that have not previously received such grants and/or require data infrastructure improvements.
    • Consortia from multiple states with capacity to build interoperable interstate data infrastructure.
  • Uses of funds include expanding data interoperability for credentials and learning experiences, contributing to multistate data collaboratives, partnering with private sector data entities, and leveraging non-Federal funds for workforce data infrastructure.
  • Administration of grants:
  • Grants may last up to 3 years, must supplement (not supplant) existing funding, and require a final report within 180 days after the grant period.
  • Required demonstrations of interoperability, privacy protections, and sustainability of outputs.

• Assistance in choosing providers and public-facing information (Section 2(c))

  • Governors can establish a talent marketplace, and states must make the talent marketplace information available through the state one-stop delivery system.
  • Information must be accessible via a consumer-tested, publicly accessible website that is searchable, navigable, and uses interoperable data descriptions; personal data must be protected.

• Assistance under the Wagner-Peyser Act (Section 2(d))

  • Adds a new subpoint to support establishing a talent marketplace under existing workforce development authorities.

Who is affected

• States and state workforce agencies, including consortia of states
• Public and private sector partners participating in talent marketplaces
• Education and training providers, employers, jobseekers, and students who use LERs, credential registries, and skills profiles
• Individuals whose data may be collected, stored, and exchanged within interoperable workforce data systems
• Grantees selected under the Workforce Data Quality Initiative

Timelines and process

• The bill sets up grant opportunities under the new Workforce Data Quality Initiative with annualized funding as part of section 132(a)(2)(A).
• Grants can run up to 3 years; post-grant reporting is required within 180 days after grant end.
• States would establish or partner to develop talent marketplaces and must provide publicly accessible, consumer-friendly information about options.

Overall impact

If enacted, the MATCH Act would institutionalize talent marketplaces as central tools for career and education matching, standardize terminology and data exchange around skills and credentials, and invest in state data infrastructure to improve transparency, decision-making, and program outcomes in the workforce system.