Senator Cassidy highlights how WOTC helps employers look beyond the resume

During a recent Senate floor speech, Senator Bill Cassidy highlighted the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and its role in helping qualified individuals facing barriers to employment connect with employers. While WOTC is often associated with tax savings, Cassidy's remarks focused on another important purpose of the program: encouraging employers to recognize qualified candidates whose experience may not follow a traditional career path.

Congress created WOTC to encourage employers to consider qualified candidates from groups that have historically faced barriers to employment. During his remarks, Cassidy described the program as legislation that "makes it easier to get a job if you're someone who, for one reason or another, might have a difficult time doing so."

Looking beyond the resume

A resume remains one of the most important hiring tools available to employers, but it rarely provides the complete context behind a candidate's career. Military spouses may have several short-term positions because they relocated with each assignment. As Senator Cassidy noted, their work history can "look like they can't keep a job" simply because military service required frequent moves. The resume reflects those moves, but it doesn't explain why they happened.

The same principle applies to many of the populations WOTC was designed to support. Veterans often possess leadership, teamwork, and technical experience that doesn't translate neatly into civilian job titles. Parents and caregivers may have stepped away from paid employment while continuing to develop valuable organizational and communication skills. Justice-impacted individuals may have the qualifications an employer needs while continuing to face barriers to employment because of their past.

Research has increasingly confirmed what many employers have experienced firsthand. A 2021 SHRM and USAA survey found that 91% of HR professionals rated veteran employees equal to or better than civilian employees in areas including reliability and retention. Separately, Northwestern University researchers found that employees with criminal records demonstrated strong retention outcomes and were no more likely to be terminated for cause than other employees.

Why WOTC continues to matter

WOTC helps reduce hiring costs, but the hiring decision remains the employer's. Candidates must still meet the requirements of the position. The incentive simply encourages employers to consider qualified candidates whose experience may not follow a traditional career path.

Rather than focusing solely on a resume, WOTC recognizes that military service, relocation, career gaps, caregiving responsibilities, and other life circumstances don't necessarily reflect a person's ability to succeed. Throughout his remarks, Senator Cassidy returned to that idea: employers benefit when they recognize talent that might otherwise be overlooked.

Opportunity beyond the tax credit

One of the most memorable moments in the speech came from a Louisiana employer who pointed to an employee released from prison decades earlier and described him as "the greatest employee we've had." Cassidy added, "There's nothing that's more of an anti-recidivism program than somebody getting a job and keeping a job and learning how to feed their family in an honest way." It wasn't presented as an extraordinary exception, but as an example of what can happen when employers are willing to look beyond a person's past and focus on their potential.

Stories like that illustrate the lasting value of recognizing talent that might otherwise be overlooked. The impact of a successful hire often extends well beyond filling an open position, strengthening organizations while creating meaningful opportunities for individuals and their communities.

Hiring for potential

Near the end of his speech, Senator Cassidy summarized why he believes WOTC deserves continued support:

"When somebody gets a good job, they get more than an income. They find stability. They become independent. They have self-respect. They have a tool with which to achieve the American dream."

For employers, the takeaway is straightforward. A resume is an important part of the hiring process, but it is only one part. WOTC encourages employers to consider qualified candidates whose experiences may not follow a traditional career path but whose skills, perspective, and potential can add lasting value to an organization. In doing so, it serves as a reminder that a resume captures experience, but not always potential.

Looking beyond the resume gives employers another opportunity to recognize qualified candidates whose experience may not tell the whole story, while giving those individuals the opportunity to strengthen an organization for years to come.

Interested in hearing Senator Cassidy's remarks? You can watch his Senate floor speech on X, where he discusses the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the importance of expanding employment opportunities for individuals facing barriers to work.