Economist Ricardo Ruiz de Viñaspre is calling for a deep restructuring of the Sence tax incentive program to correct distortions that currently encourage low-quality training in Chile. According to reports from latercera.com, the issue is not the existence of the instrument itself, but rather the microeconomic incentives that govern it.
The expert, a former director of the National Training and Employment Service (Sencce), points out that the current subsidy structure promotes courses with artificially low hourly costs. Under current law, if a course's hourly cost falls below a threshold defined by Sence, the State covers 100% of the cost.
This dynamic creates a perverse effect in the labor market. To take full advantage of the subsidy, companies tend to extend the duration of courses and reduce the hourly rate, resulting in programs that are less efficient and have a lower real impact on worker skills.
Moving toward a percentage-based subsidy model
To address this quality deficit, Ruiz de Viñaspre suggests that the State shift from a fixed subsidy to a percentage-based one—for example, 30%. This way, companies would always contribute a portion of the cost, aligning their interests with the pursuit of higher-level training and more reasonable course durations.
Another critical point identified by the economist is the tax benefit companies receive when making contributions to Intermediate Technical Training Organizations (OTIC). Currently, companies access this tax discount through monetary contributions, regardless of whether the training is actually carried out.
The author of the proposal argues that the Treasury should only recognize training expenses once the activity has been completed. This would prevent the benefit from becoming a mere accounting maneuver with no real impact on human capital.
Regarding the employability of the unemployed, the economist proposes that OTICs lead training initiatives based on actual private sector demand. In this scheme, Sence would act as a regulator and financier, measuring program effectiveness and defunding those that fail to demonstrate results in job placement.
Finally, the economist warns that the solution depends on political will. Although former President Sebastián Piñera introduced two bills to address these issues, both stalled in Congress. This leaves the training system in a state of labor emergency, with 850,000 people unemployed and 2.5 million working in the informal sector.
