Employers looking to close the skills gap by providing training to employees could get a helping hand from a bipartisan group of lawmakers considering a tax credit to offset some of the costs of that training.
HRDive reports that H.R. 4088, the Career Advancement Through New Skills Act, has been introduced in Congress. Of course, the bill will have to pass both houses, but if it's successful it could offer a tax credit to offset up to $1,250 of training expenses per employee. Qualified expenses would include the cost of training or programming to improve or maintain skills needed by employers.
According to the report, the bill is particularly intended to assist small businesses in finding the employees they need for well-paid jobs that they've been unable to fill, whether because of an inability to boost existing employees' skills or a lack of available training.
Recommended For You
Thanks to a paucity of suitable job candidates with the required skills or experience, employers in greater numbers have been looking to apprenticeships and training programs to address open positions. However, smaller employers may have been reluctant to shell out for training, or may just need a bit of encouragement to set about creating suitable job candidates themselves through such programs.
Tax credits for providing training could provide the incentive to convince more small and midsize employers who haven't yet taken that step to do so and to institute their own on-the-job training programs.
The report cites Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-IL, as saying that the federal government has an opportunity to help all parties involved. He's quoted saying in a statement, "Let's help the backbone of our economy—small businesses—create opportunity for their workers in order to grow. The federal government can and should be a partner in supporting classes and training offered by companies that can give more stability to their workers and put them in a position to earn more money."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
