Katelyn Walker Mooney Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy | Official Website
The U.S. Department of Labor has released a new guide to assist employers in adopting skills-first hiring practices. This initiative is part of the Good Jobs Initiative and was announced at the White House's "Classroom to Career" Summit, attended by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden along with nearly 300 education and workforce leaders.
The Skills-First Hiring Starter Kit, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce, is designed to focus on hiring, promotion, and management based on worker skills rather than degree qualifications. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su emphasized the potential benefits of this approach: “Skills-first hiring practices can be a way of helping workers get ahead through good jobs,” she said. “Our Starter Kit provides the blueprint for employers to take concrete steps to begin skills-first hiring and provide economic opportunity for workers who face barriers – not because they are not highly skilled – but because of where they attained those skills.”
Skills-first or skills-based hiring involves selecting candidates based on their demonstrable abilities, irrespective of how or where these skills were acquired. The department's Good Jobs Principles advocate for this method as an effective recruitment strategy.
Despite many employers eliminating four-year degree requirements for salaried positions, there remains difficulty in implementing skills-first strategies effectively. The Starter Kit aims to bridge this gap by offering private employers detailed guidance on executing these practices within their organizations.
The development of the Skills-First Hiring Starter Kit involved consultation with the U.S. Department of Commerce and 16 leading public and private sector organizations as well as labor groups to ensure it serves as a comprehensive resource for employers.
For more information about the Skills-First Starter Kit or the Good Jobs Initiative, further resources are available.
