State of the STARs

In last week’s State of the Union, President Biden and the Administration made a commitment to pursue skills-based hiring to bring more talent into the U.S. government and federal contractors on a more agile and inclusive basis, and encouraged U.S. industry more widely to do the same.

In his speech to both houses of Congress, President Biden focused on "eliminating barriers to good-paying jobs for workers all across America,” stressing that “millions of Americans without a college degree are needlessly disadvantaged in the pursuit of good jobs” despite their skills.

Absolutely right! By focusing on skills, the United States can unblock opportunities and unlock the talent pool of more than 70 million workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) - such as community colleges, military service, partial college completion, workforce training programs, skills bootcamps, and on-the-job learning - rather than through bachelor’s degrees.

In the latest Opportunity Wrap, Opportunity@Work’s Cheston McGuire highlights the President’s State of the Union message; the Federal Reserve research and rationale to adopt skills-based hiring; and an Opportunity@Work’s Insights leader podcast interview on how to make it happen.??

• In his joint address to Congress, President Joe Biden discussed creating an equal recovery for STARs, saying, we will, “keep the economy going strong and give workers a fair shot, provide more training at apprenticeships, hire them based on skills and not just through their degrees.” buff.ly/35oB0hS
• David Brancaccio spoke with Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s President Patrick Harker for a story on Marketplace by APM about how skills-based hiring can open up opportunities to STARs who have been overlooked in today’s labor market. “We’ve seen this trend before, and that’s just accelerated through this pandemic. Companies are now looking and saying, ‘Do I really need the proof of that credential? Or do I really look for proof that you have the skills necessary to do the job?'” said Harker. buff.ly/3KeD9vd
• In WorkingNation's Work in Progress podcast, Ramona Schindelheim interviews Opportunity@Work’s SVP of Insights Papia Debroy on the new Rise with the STARs report. Debroy discusses how to rewire a labor market that works for STARs and employers: “What would it look like if we did give workers credit for the skills they're gaining on the job? How could we start to imagine different pathways for them that not only allow them to achieve mobility, but allow employers to actually find the talent they're seeking today?" buff.ly/3oGOKe2?

Proliferating degree-based obstacles to career paths have been a lose-lose bargain - not just for STARs, but for our employers, economy, communities and our country. We can secure a better future by valuing the skills people learn and perform, however they got those skills. #HireSTARs

All the best,

Byron