There’s a federal program that can help you get workers from outside the remodeling industry trained and paid while learning the skills you need them to have.
The Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act took effect in 2014, and is designed to help unemployed people get jobs, training, education, and support to get a foothold in a new career path.Implementation of the grants is handled by individual state offices.
The On-the-Job Training Program
WIOA funds are allocated through your individual state and local resources. The On-the Job Training Program is part of WIOA, and is designed to help employers hire and train skilled workers while getting reimbursed. Through the OTJ program, you can get help::
- Finding Workers
- Training them
- Paying for training
You can get reimbursed up to 50% of the costs to provide on-the-job training for individuals hired if you meet the program’s criteria. The new hire has to be unemployed at the time of the hire.
Find Your State
If this sounds like a resource you’d like to use to find, hire, and train workers for your office or in the field, the Career OneStop page explaining the OTJ program is the place to start — and then search for your state offices for more guidance.
If you’ve never heard of WIOA or the OTJ, you’re not alone. It was brought to our attention by one of our members on our Roundtables Facebook group. He recently used WIOAt to help offset payroll costs for a new hire from outside the industry. The new hire was the one who told him about it, and he wanted other members to know. It’s one of the many benefits of Roundtables — the ongoing collaboration and information-sharing that takes place in person and online.
