Viewpoint: Virginia's new governor should reshape workforce training as AI disrupts jobs market

January 27, 2026, Opinion: "As we enter 2026, many Americans are feeling increasingly uncertain about their job prospects with the anticipation of AI-related disruption creating widespread anxiety. In the Washington metro area, concerns about AI are landing in a labor market already in flux. The region is home to a meaningful share of the roughly 300,000 workers who left the federal payroll in 2025, many in the kinds of office jobs economists warn are most vulnerable to AI displacement. A December Virginia Chamber report found that almost 500,000 Virginians under 35 hold jobs exposed to AI and recommended expanding reskilling pathways, yet only 27% of business leaders say those pathways exist in their region."