Path to Pro expands workforce pipeline with scholarships, training, industry partnerships

The Home Depot Foundation is expanding Path to Pro, its workforce development initiative, by broadening scholarship windows, scaling free digital training and deepening industry partnerships to address a persistent skilled-trades shortage. The move aims to lower barriers for jobseekers and current employees seeking credentials and clearer routes into construction, facilities and trade roles.

Path to Pro’s core elements include free digital training modules, entry-level certificates and scholarship programs administered through SkillPointe. The scholarship lineup combines Path to Pro scholarships run by SkillPointe with targeted awards for veterans and women in the trades. The Foundation has committed multi-million-dollar investments to scale training, career pipelines and reskilling initiatives across partner networks.

Industry partners include the Home Builders Institute, SkillPointe and Team Rubicon, among others. These partners provide classroom and hands-on training, credential pathways and connections to employers. Path to Pro also operates a Path to Pro Network that links trainees directly with hiring employers and Home Depot Pro customers, positioning credentialed workers for immediate placement with contractors and commercial buyers who rely on skilled labor.

Scholarship windows and rolling applications make aid available throughout the year, and the program emphasizes entry-level certificates designed to certify foundational trade competencies for quicker entry into paid work. The Foundation’s approach targets nontraditional talent pools, with specific outreach and financial support for veterans and women, groups that have historically faced barriers to trade careers.

For workers, the expanded program reduces the upfront cost of training and provides credentials that can change hiring dynamics in stores, distribution centers and local contractor markets. Home Depot associates seeking to move into merchandising, tool-and-equipment services or installation-based roles can use Path to Pro credentials to bolster internal mobility. For external jobseekers, the program creates clearer pathways into paying jobs and apprenticeships, potentially increasing bargaining power and pay trajectory for credentialed workers.

Employers and Home Depot Pro customers stand to benefit from a broader, credentialed candidate pool that can fill urgent project needs and reduce reliance on informal hiring channels. For the company, scaling Path to Pro signals a longer-term investment in talent pipelines and community workforce development that may affect hiring, retention and store-level staffing over time.

Workers and hiring managers interested in eligibility, scholarship windows and available training modules can find program details and apply at pathtopro.com. As the initiative grows, Path to Pro could reshape how Home Depot recruits and develops trade talent, with practical implications for career mobility and the availability of certified workers in local markets.