Published
July 21, 2025
As technology, automation, and global competition make a wide range of skills obsolete at an astounding pace, the U.S. faces an upskilling and reskilling crisis. World Economic Forum research estimates that nearly 6 in 10 employees (59%) will need to be retrained by the end of the decade, and almost half of workers (47%) will require training before 2030, with only about half of workers having access to adequate training opportunities today. With a workforce of over 171 million people, the country does not have the infrastructure capable of addressing such an overwhelming need for training.
In response to the challenges posed by the growing skills gap to the nation’s economy and productivity, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has reimagined existing employee education benefits to create a solution: the Skill Savings Account. This innovative financial tool offers a new way to fund learning and skill-building needs while also incentivizing employees to keep their skills current and building a powerful skills development marketplace, all of which contributes to economic growth.
Here are five things to know about Skill Savings Accounts:
1. What a Skill Savings Account Is (And Is Not)
This innovative concept provides a new solution to fund the upskilling and reskilling revolution necessary to keep the country’s workforce the most productive in the world. Using the proven framework of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), which are benefits employers offer to help employees save pre-tax money for healthcare, Skill Savings Accounts are portable, dedicated funds designed to pay for education, training, certifications, or skills development. Unlike many traditional tuition reimbursement programs, Skill Savings Accounts are flexible, employee-controlled, and can be used for non-traditional learning opportunities, such as boot camps, conferences, or online courses.
2. How Contributions Typically Work
Both employees and employers may make tax-free contributions to Skill Savings Accounts. Other entities, such as the government and workforce development programs, can also contribute to the accounts. Ideally, the accounts would be incentivized through federal and state tax policy, as HSAs and FSAs are. In addition, Skill Savings Accounts could be funded with relatively small contributions upfront, lowering the barrier to entry for both employees and employers. For instance, imagine an employee investing just $750 in a skill savings account for a training program to obtain new skills, which subsequently leads to a meaningful pay increase. The funds would be accessed through financial technologies (fintech), and the accounts are designed to be portable, further encouraging employees to invest in themselves throughout their careers.
3. Why Skill Savings Accounts Are Already in Demand
In addition to the rapid upskilling and reskilling that are increasingly urgent for businesses to remain competitive, employees are increasingly valuing companies that invest in their development. Skill Savings Accounts represent a shared commitment by workers and their employers to keep skills current. Because they are flexible and easy to use, Skill Savings Accounts remove barriers to skills development. They can be a strong talent recruitment and retention tool, especially in industries facing significant disruption, such as technology, manufacturing, and healthcare.
4. How Skill Savings Accounts Can Boost the Economy
Skill Savings Accounts also have the potential to create a powerful new economic opportunity for companies and workers. Companies implementing comprehensive training programs tend to have an income per employee that is 218% higher than those lacking formal training. Additionally, they experience a 24% higher profit margin. If just one-third of the current workforce had Skill Savings Accounts with balances of between $1,500 and $2,000 each, that critical mass would create an upskilling marketplace worth approximately $100 billion without significant commitment of taxpayer dollars or government administration. That’s about three times the benefit Pell Grants provide each year.
5. How Employees and Employers Can Make the Most of Skill Savings Accounts
Once created and adopted, employees and employers have ample opportunities to maximize the impact of Skill Savings Accounts. Working together, they can set clear career and skill-building goals, then work to identify learning investments that will move them toward those goals and provide a high return on investment. Companies can help employees plan their learning paths and align the use of funds with the company’s future workforce needs, offering trusted course providers and resources while giving employees the freedom to choose the skill-building options that best suit their needs and career pathways.
The Skill Savings Account is an innovative, forward-thinking approach to workforce and skills development—one that empowers workers to take charge of their careers and gives employers a proven way to support skill-building that lasts.
Learn more about this innovative solution in our report, Skill Savings Accounts: A Public-Private Financing Approach for Upskilling and Reskilling in a Dynamic Economy.
