Pentagon officials are rolling out changes to the popular SkillBridge job training program, hoping to land more veterans in full-time jobs and improve the learning experience.
The first updates to the program in five years aim to connect active-duty troops with safe, stable workplaces that offer a clear path to employment after they separate from military service. But concerns remain that the new rules could curb the number of companies that opt to participate in SkillBridge, as well as the number of service members who rely on the program as a post-military landing pad.
Without the financial stability and professional growth that SkillBridge can offer, troops may find the difficult leap into civilian life even tougher.
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"SkillBridge is a great program. We are much better with it ... than without it," Ian Eishen, who retired from the Air Force as a chief master sergeant in 2022, told Military.com on Wednesday. "I think some of these rules may have second- and third-order effects that may or may not have been thought of."
SkillBridge, founded in 2011, offers troops the chance to spend the last six months of their military service in unpaid job training, apprenticeships and internships at civilian employers ranging from Amazon to federal agencies. The program allows service members to try out new skills and learn whether a workplace's culture is right for them, with the goal of landing full-time employment once the training is done.
More than 4,700 employers have signed up to be SkillBridge providers as of this month, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Grace Geiger told Military.com on Aug. 23.
It's unclear how many troops have participated in SkillBridge since its inception, or how many are ultimately hired by the employers. While the Defense Department said in 2022 that more than 50,000 service members had used the program so far, Geiger said the Pentagon can no longer verify those numbers due to shoddy data-collection practices.
The Pentagon hopes to have a clearer idea of the number of SkillBridge participants and hiring figures in fiscal 2026, Geiger added. About 200,000 troops leave active duty each year.
The updates follow the Defense Department's decision to move oversight of the SkillBridge program under the purview of the Pentagon personnel boss in May 2023 to more closely integrate it with other transition and civilian reintegration programs, Geiger said. That shift spurred multiple reviews that sought to determine whether the initiative is succeeding, culminating in an August memo laying out the changes.
Geiger said the updates will improve the Pentagon's ability to check whether SkillBridge is working as intended and report back to Congress, the White House and other stakeholders.
The changes also come after the Navy and Marine Corps limited which troops can take advantage of SkillBridge and for how long, citing a need to prioritize force readiness.
"Commanders and service members will have better training, information, resources and support to ensure SkillBridge provides the successful transition outcomes intended, while reinforcing our commitment to empower commanders to balance SkillBridge opportunities with operational readiness requirements," Geiger said.
Among the most critical updates are provisions that dictate how many SkillBridge workers a company must take on based on its size, and to have as many job openings available as it has SkillBridge workers. The Defense Department wants at least three-quarters of troops who successfully finish the program to be offered a job immediately after leaving military service, according to the memo.
The move could help prevent employers from using troops as cheap labor without intending to bring them on full-time.
But Eishen said that rule may disqualify companies who can't guarantee a full-time job but would still offer vital work experience.
Eishen runs the "AF Quarantine University" page on Facebook, a community that began in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to connect airmen with professional development opportunities while the virus interrupted their career plans. The page has grown to more than 28,000 members and continues to flag information about job prospects, conferences and programs such as SkillBridge.
Hiring is important, Eishen said, but so is giving someone the chance to see whether they enjoy a particular industry and if a company is the right fit.
"I think what they're doing is using head count to assess the maturity of a company, and I don't think that those two things always align," he said.
The rules could eliminate startups that aren't sure how quickly they can scale up, he added.
"Especially if they're selling to the DoD, they don't want to do something wrong ... and they don't want to give a bad experience to the veteran," he said.
The memo also tries to ensure troops are joining stable companies by requiring that SkillBridge providers have been in business for at least three years. That benchmark doesn't apply to federal, state and local government employers.
That may disqualify startups that could otherwise be a key training ground for service members looking to be a Swiss Army knife on a small staff or to get in on the ground floor of a new business, Eishen said.
"Your role is to help that startup succeed and change day to day, which, I think, for a veteran who hasn't had the opportunity to try different types of jobs in their 20s and find the thing they really liked, it allows you to gain a lot of exposure to a lot of parts of business and then hopefully settle into something as that company grows," he said.
Companies can benefit from veterans' perspectives as well, particularly for those vying for military contracts, he added.
"The rule will limit a huge number of great companies from hosting some of these people, and these people will no longer be able to learn at these companies," Eishen said.
The program will also require companies to offer no more than 50% of their training as asynchronous courses, such as online videos a worker can watch on their own time. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that asynchronous-only training is less efficient and valuable than in-person or live online work, Geiger said.
Eishen worries some will misinterpret that guidance and stop offering fully remote positions -- which are still allowed and can offer much-needed flexibility for non-local workers or those with family commitments.
"I don't know how [the DoD is] going to audit this type of thing, but there are companies that would say the job that they're doing does not meet the standards," he said. "They might self-select and say that we can't host a SkillBridge fellow."
Other updates look to limit the financial burden of participating in SkillBridge. Companies are not allowed to impose training costs on a service member before their commander signs off on their participation, and can't charge troops for training materials, equipment, uniforms and other costs of learning the job. Some program costs can be covered by a service member's GI Bill benefits, Geiger said.
SkillBridge companies must also ensure the workplace is safe and compliant with labor and safety laws and regulations.
The changes are now in effect and apply to all new SkillBridge providers whose applications to join the program are currently under review, Geiger said Thursday. The new rules will also affect all employers that apply when the next window opens Oct. 1, as well as employers renewing their previously approved agreements.
From giving troops the chance to prove they're more than their military resume, to offering a less-daunting off-ramp into civilian life, SkillBridge is a crucial tool in the Pentagon's efforts to support veterans, Eishen said. He hopes DoD officials will revise the new rules to strengthen the program without artificially limiting who can participate.
By offering a trial period in a particular workplace or in an unfamiliar industry, SkillBridge can cut down on the job churn many vets experience immediately after leaving uniform, Eishen argued.
Nearly half of all vets leave their first post-military job within a year, and as many as 80% of veterans leave within two years, according to a 2014 study from career-coaching service VetAdvisor and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.
"I would argue that there's a massive benefit," Eishen said of joining SkillBridge. "I have to believe there's a decrease in suicidal ideations, there's an decrease in hopelessness, because you've got more veterans who have enough money to take care of their family, and they feel more confident."
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional information on when SkillBridge changes go into effect.
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