Montgomery, AL – Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced on Friday that the Alabama Department of Labor will officially transition to the Department of Workforce on February 1, 2025. This change follows the passage of the Alabama Workforce Transformation Act, aimed at streamlining workforce development efforts in the state.
Marty Redden, who has served as Secretary of Labor and led the initial transition phase, will retire, making way for Greg Reed to become Alabama’s first Secretary of Workforce.
“Increasing Alabama’s labor force participation rate is the current focus of our workforce development efforts,” said Governor Ivey. “We are attracting significant business investments and new jobs, and we are helping our existing companies grow, and it is imperative we prepare our workforce. I am grateful for the good work Marty has done to begin this new chapter of workforce development in Alabama. I am excited for Greg to now take the helm and get to work.”
Reed, who has been serving as Senior Advisor to Workforce Transformation, will lead the department in implementing the full transition, which is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025.
“I am immensely honored to be the first Secretary of Workforce for the state of Alabama, and I am incredibly thankful to Governor Ivey that she has entrusted me to carry out her vision to tackle this all-important task,” said Reed. “It is my commitment that this new agency will do all that it can to ensure Alabama workers are the best trained and most highly skilled in America.”
Reed previously served in the Alabama Senate, where he sponsored multiple workforce and economic development initiatives, including the Alabama Incentives Modernization (AIM) Act and The Game Plan legislation package. Most recently, he played a key role in the 2024 Working for Alabama bill package and the Alabama Growth Alliance Act, which will serve as the state’s primary advisory council for long-term workforce and economic development strategies.
In addition to workforce development, the newly established Department of Workforce will continue overseeing responsibilities such as workplace safety, child labor enforcement, unemployment and workers’ compensation, and labor market data analysis.
