Fact check: Did Gavin Newsom really help create 625,000 new job opportunities in California?
Adam Echelman
January 21, 2025
In summary
In 2018, Newsom promised to add 500,000 new apprenticeships in the decade after taking office. The state is making progress, but how much depends on the definition of “apprenticeship.”
As a gubernatorial candidate in 2018, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a pledge to create 500,000 new apprenticeships in the decade after taking office, part of his broader strategy to boost the state’s job programs.
He’s on track to reach that goal — with about 200,000 apprenticeships so far — according to a press release last month from the governor’s office.
But a few weeks after that, he cited a new and much larger number. “On the trajectory we’re currently on — this is an actual number — and if you want to have us back into this number, I’m happy to provide that information later: 624,895 apprenticeships, 624,895 that we are currently on track to achieve well beyond the 500,000 by 2029,” he said.
