President Trump plans to propose a revamp of all federal job training programs in his State of the Union speech early next year, a move meant to help displaced workers update their skills for a fast-changing digital economy.

Trump has promised better times for the “forgotten men and women” of America, with his main policies, up till now, focused on bringing back manufacturing jobs that have long been offshored to China and other countries. That approach is controversial, though. Tariffs and other protectionist measures are Trump’s preferred method of luring more manufacturing jobs to the United States, but many economists argue they’ll harm U.S. consumers by raising prices, without doing much to boost employment.

A different approach is to help struggling workers get the skills needed to fill one of the nearly 7 million open jobs employers say they have trouble filling right now. While there are 6 million unemployed Americans, many lack the skills needed for the jobs that are open. Workers who used to man an assembly line, for instance, aren’t necessarily qualified to perform a skilled trade in the booming construction industry or do cybersecurity, jobs in more demand now.

The federal government runs about 40 worker training programs under 15 different agencies, costing taxpayers around $17 billion per year. Yet few of those are considered effective and hardly any are designed to measure their own success. One program, for instance, is supposed to help workers who lose their jobs due to offshoring. Several others are meant to help veterans.

Policies designed by ‘a goofball’

The government has policies that go back decades “that I would say were designed by a goofball, but that would be giving too much to goofballs,” Kevin Hassett, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said at an Oct. 10 conference sponsored by the center-right American Action Forum. “We have 40-something different training programs and none of them are really accountable.”

Most federal education and training money is targeted at people 22 and under. But faster change in the workforce means more people need to change careers when they’re older. Companies can provide training, but they’re often reluctant to, because competitors can poach newly trained workers, undercutting the investment.

Hassett outlined a plan to transfer most federal training programs to a single agency, such as the Department of Labor. To receive funding, a program would have to generate analytics showing that it works. The changes would require Congress to pass new legislation—far from assured. Trump plans to outline new proposals in his 2019 State of the Union address, expected in mid-January.