Employers in every sector have emphasized the need for a well-rounded, highly skilled workforce. Recent survey data indicates that over 90% of business leaders think American workers are not as skilled as they need to be. 1 According to the Business Roundtable, CEOs around the country have noticed a particular gap in "employability skills" such as effective communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving. 2 To address this gap, youth development leaders, including those in the afterschool sector, have worked to provide high quality skill-building experiences inside and outside of the classroom. 3 Afterschool programs provide opportunities for career exploration, exposure, and hands-on learning focused on the cultivation of many of the skills desired by employers. Similarly, the workforce sector has sought to narrow the gap by providing programs and services to help job seekers attain and demonstrate these skills. Importantly, both sectors aim to provide opportunities for skill development to individuals from low-income families and communities, who may not otherwise have opportunities for high-quality skill development and are often disproportionally left out of the labor market. The workforce sector's goal of developing a better-prepared and highly skilled workforce is well aligned with the mission of the youth development field: to prepare young people to succeed. Despite their shared interests, however, the youth development and workforce sectors often operate in isolation, failing to leverage the capacities of the other. Given that afterschool is centered around youth development and that youth development goals have significant overlap with workforce development goals, there is an important opportunity to more strategically and intentionally align these systems. This white paper explores the ways in which the workforce sector's goal of developing a better-prepared and highly skilled workforce is aligned with the mission of the youth development field: to prepare young people to succeed. Specifically, this paper discusses the need for and benefits of better alignment across afterschool and workforce systems. (A bibliography is included.)