Mind the right gap: the “opportunity gap"

Many employers say they cannot find the talent they need to fill job openings. They say there is a “skills gap.” In a way, they’re right. We all need to develop more skills, as new tools are deployed and novel methods adopted: I do, you do, college grads do, workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs) do. 

Therefore, the “skills gaps” employers and the broader economy encounter are opening - and closing - all the time, partly through people studying in formal institutions of learning, but mostly through people learning on the job - through practice, mentoring, stretch opportunities, work-based training and more.

The “gap” employers should worry about more is the “opportunity gap”. For example, more than 30 million STARs have gained skills - while doing their current jobs, and in shorter-course learning - which position them to do jobs paying over 50% more than they earn now. Such skills are often for middle-wage jobs in demand by employers who fear “skills gaps” but often *screen out* applicants without bachelors degrees *before* assessing their skills. Do STARs have the opportunity to be considered for your open job roles?

The only way for companies to hire the talent needed to “build back better” is if they realize that ignoring skills acquired on-the-job, even (especially!) in lower-paid work, is limiting their talent and hindering their progress. Talent is everywhere. In every color, gender, and zip code. Everyone is more than a resume.

Evidence of this reality is compelling and growing. In the latest “Opportunity Wrap,” Opportunity@Work’s Martin Evelyn highlights research, insights, and diagnostic tools from Credential Engine, Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and the Federal Reserve that assess the impact on wages and racial equity of recognizing alternative pathways and rewarding STARs’ skills and work contribution. These changes in labor markets will be essential to realizing an equitable economic recovery, post-pandemic.

• A new report from Credential Engine finds nearly 1 million education credentials in the United States; a 30% increase from two years ago. More than half of these credentials were offered by non-academic providers (e.g., professional certifications, apprenticeships, and a wide variety of other alternative routes to certificated skills). https://buff.ly/2MTuwhL
• Despite an increase in educational attainment for Black and Latinx workers over the past 20 years, the wage divide between these groups and white workers grew. Citing Opportunity@Work research, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth found that increasing job opportunities, no additional training, will close the racial wage gap. https://buff.ly/3rNtimF 
• The Federal Reserve released the “Occupational Mobility Explorer,” which allows workers to compare the skills needed to do different jobs and find high-paying transitions in their metro area. These transitions could lead to almost $15,000 in increased wages. https://buff.ly/2ZfJwcd

Low-wage does not equal low-skill, and the lack of a college degree does not mean a lack of talent. The skills gap is mostly a myth and there is talent in every zip code. Let’s open up opportunities to match.

All the best,

Byron