Fulton Will Cover Up to $7,000 of a New Hire’s Wages. North Fulton Employers Can Apply
Fulton County's expanded program reimburses North Fulton employers up to $7,000 per new hire during on-the-job training. It helps smaller businesses by sharing wage costs for workers learning new roles, benefiting areas such as Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and Roswell.
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For a North Fulton business debating whether it can afford to add another employee, Fulton County is offering to pick up part of the cost.
WorkSource Fulton has expanded its On-the-Job Training program, allowing eligible employers to receive reimbursement equal to 50% of a participating new hire’s gross wages, up to $7,000 per worker.
The program is designed for people who are unemployed, underemployed or have been displaced from previous jobs, pairing a real job with training provided by the employer. Unlike a conventional job-training course, the participant is hired by the company and earns wages while learning the position. Fulton’s reimbursement helps offset the employer’s cost during that training period.
That distinction matters in North Fulton, where much of the recent employment news has centered on large corporate relocations, expansions and high-paying technology jobs. The WorkSource program reaches a different part of the labor market: smaller employers that may need workers but hesitate to hire someone who does not already have every required skill.
It also gives workers trying to change careers another possible route into a position that might otherwise demand previous experience.
How the reimbursement works
Under the expanded program, an eligible employer can be reimbursed for 50% of a participant’s gross wages, with the county contribution capped at $7,000 for each qualifying new hire. Fulton County’s broader employer-services program says on-the-job training assistance can support workers who are unemployed, underemployed or dislocated.
The employer still chooses whom to hire and remains responsible for employing and training the worker. WorkSource Fulton can also help identify and screen candidates rather than requiring companies to select from a predetermined workforce.
This is not a promise of thousands of new jobs, and Fulton County has not announced a specific number of positions that will result from the expansion. Its economic effect will depend on how many employers participate and how many qualifying workers are hired.
For an individual business, however, the calculation can be meaningful.
A company hiring someone at $20 an hour for a full-time position would normally pay roughly $10,400 in gross wages during 13 weeks of work. A 50% reimbursement could reduce that wage cost by about $5,200 during the training period, assuming the employee and employer qualify and the reimbursement applies throughout that period.
The $7,000 cap means the benefit is especially relevant for entry-level and middle-wage positions in which employers expect workers to require several weeks or months of training.
Why it could matter in Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Roswell
North Fulton has a deep concentration of technology, finance, health care and professional-services employment, but the local economy also depends on smaller manufacturers, medical offices, contractors, hospitality businesses, retailers and service companies.
Those employers often face a different hiring problem than major corporations: they may have work available but lack the time or budget to train someone from the beginning.
Publicly subsidized on-the-job training shifts some of that risk.
It can also help a worker whose résumé does not neatly match the opening. Someone returning to the workforce, moving out of a declining occupation or trying to enter a new industry may become a more viable candidate when part of the training cost is reimbursed.
Fulton County’s recently revised workforce plan identifies health care, information technology, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing and skilled trades among its target sectors. The county says its workforce programs include on-the-job training, incumbent-worker training and registered-apprenticeship support.
How to get into the program
Employers interested in the reimbursement must work with WorkSource Fulton to determine whether the business, position and prospective employee meet program requirements. Fulton is directing interested businesses to WorkSource for eligibility and enrollment information.
The county’s WorkSource Fulton employer page includes information on on-the-job training, worker recruitment, incumbent-worker training and apprenticeships.
Job seekers can start with the county’s main WorkSource Fulton program page, which offers career counseling, job-search assistance, training options and other employment services. The county says the services are federally funded and offered at no cost to participants.
For North Fulton residents, the closest county career center is the North Fulton Career Center at 7741 Roswell Road, Suite 205, in Sandy Springs. The center operates by appointment; Fulton lists 404-613-4480 for the location and directs people seeking appointments to WorkSource Fulton.
The expanded program will not transform North Fulton’s labor market by itself. But for a worker trying to get a foot into a new occupation—or a local employer that has been leaving a position unfilled because training a new employee costs too much—$7,000 can be enough to change the hiring decision.
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