By Zia Saylor

We all want the opportunity to work hard and to find meaning in our lives through contributing to part of a greater good. Whatever our skills are, we find satisfaction in doing things well and improving the lives we touch, whether that's building a house, teaching the next generation math, or delivering a meal. The American Dream is built on these principles, espousing the opportunity to meaningfully engage within our families, communities, and broader connected economies as we pursue self-betterment. 

Despite this shared vision for prosperity, workers face risks during times of great technological leaps as jobs are reshaped and livelihoods shifted to keep pace with current developments. To honor the spirit of innovation and hard work, it becomes of paramount importance to ensure that we invest in our workers to provide opportunities to develop necessary skills and smoothly transition jobs. Senate Bill 488, Skills Training Pilot Program, develops the infrastructure to do just that. Co-authored by Senators Brown and Roger, this piece of legislation would establish a pilot program for Hoosiers across the state who experience unemployment and are unlikely to be reemployed without additional training. This program would be run through the Department of Workforce Development, offering individuals who are receiving Unemployment Insurance (UI) an incentive to engage in training programs to allow them to upskill or change industries as they navigate job transitions. 

The establishment of this program could not come at a more critical time: in a forthcoming report from the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute that surveyed workers from across the state who had experienced job loss, findings indicate that Hoosiers are not being provided with adequate opportunities to upskill and re-engage in the labor force after unemployment. These Hoosiers expressed desires to improve their future job prospects through upskilling and retraining. However, despite these workers’ drives to improve their skills and flexibility across sectors, they often faced significant barriers such as limited financial resources and the lack of knowledge related to what sectors are advantageous for upskilling. The short time frame of unemployment insurance often meant that Hoosiers took jobs with lower pay than they originally had, as the combination of insufficient time and connections to upskilling prevented them from increasing their labor market capacity. 

In addition to these barriers noted in our Indiana specific study, other research shows that upskilling is valuable in reducing the impacts of job loss. Research indicates that job search assistance and retraining programs offers states, businesses, and workers the lowest-cost, highest-efficiency solution to job mismatches and market layoffs. As evidence of the necessary investment in upskilling, studies point to extensive earning losses–as high as 20% of potential earned income as long as 10 to 20 years out from mass layoff events. This can be worsened by national unemployment conditions, with workers who are laid off during times of high unemployment rates (over eight percent) experiencing nearly twice the salary loss among unemployed individuals laid off during periods with low unemployment rates of under six percent. 

Beyond supporting the many Hoosiers who experience unemployment as a part of labor transitions, establishing a skills training pilot program within Indiana could further support the many workers with disabilities who experience unemployment each year. It is difficult to obtain exact numbers due underreporting of those with a disability within the workforce due to stigma, lack of diagnosis, and limited data. Even so, previous research from the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute highlights that many struggle to access due process protections that they should be entitled to within their positions, leading to untimely job loss without internal company opportunity to retrain or accommodate needs. While this might prevent workers with disabilities from accessing unemployment insurance (and thus the skills pilot program), opportunities for workers with disabilities is something that legislators should consider incorporating into the legislation: opportunities for workers with disabilities. The training opportunities offered by SB 488 would mean that workers with disabilities could explore retraining opportunities if they are able to reengage with the workforce, preventing exclusion and isolation for the many who desire to remain in the labor market. 

SB 488 would undoubtedly benefit workers across the state and spanning sectors to ensure longevity in workforce capacity for engagement, yet would also fill a critical need that employers have: workers able to fill the roles that they offer in our flexible and adjusting labor market. Research from the National Skills Coalition highlights a nine percentage point gap between the percent of jobs requiring skills training between high school and college levels and the number of workers fitting that profile within the workforce. Simultaneously, workers with high school degrees as their highest level of educational training outpaces the number of jobs for which such educational levels are a match. The resulting mismatch within the Indiana labor market means that workers who experience a job loss with only a high school degree may not have the necessary skills training opportunities to become reemployed at the same or higher level than their former position, if at all. Senate Bill 488 would help rectify that by offering skills training to individuals receiving unemployment insurance, enabling them to upskill in transitional times, both improving their potential access to better paying positions and ensuring more rapid reemployment. This bill (SB 488) would likewise benefit employers by increasing the number of skilled workers in Indiana who have the capacities needed for positions. Ultimately, this legislation will benefit our businesses, workers, and broader state economy. It offers families more stability and allows small businesses to employ workers with increased skills, while also making Indiana a competitive state for future businesses.