More companies are recognizing that experience and skills often trump schools and degrees when it comes to hiring the right talent for their job openings. But just throwing the switch to change decades of hiring practices is not that easy.
Which is why the Alexandria, Virginia-based SRHM Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Society for Human Resource Management, has launched the Center for a Skills First Future, a free online resource for employers that includes tools, planners and resources for employers looking to formally change their hiring requirements.
“It is kind of everything — soups to nuts — that you need to identify, draft and implement a skills-first strategy from practical tools, resources and playbooks, to connections to other individuals who are in similar positions in different industries and organizations, and helping them figure it out as they go,” said Wendi Safstrom, president of the SHRM Foundation.
The labor market is shifting, but SHRM said hiring norms remain outdated. More than half of job descriptions still require a four-year degree, even though two in three working age adults in the U.S. don’t have one. At the same time, companies continue to face talent shortages, with 77% of hiring managers reporting difficulty in filling full-time jobs.
Some industries have been faster than others to shift to skills-based hiring.
A recent report from Comp TIA, the trade group representing the technology industry, noted that of the 470,000 active IT job postings in May, about half did not specify requiring a four-year academic degree, but rather some combination of work experience, training and industry-recognized certification.
The SHRM Foundation said skills needs are rapidly evolving, especially in the technology field. And traditional academic curriculums are not keeping up.
“As AI and technology has evolved, skills requirements are shifting faster than traditional degree programs can adapt or keep up with,” Safstrom said. “This has created a really growing disconnect between educational outputs and what we are needing in the workforce.”
The SHRM Foundation said the Center for a Skills First Future serves as, what the SHRM Foundation called, a centralized, employer-facing hub to help companies unlock untapped talent, improve hiring outcomes and build future-ready teams of employees.
The SHRM Foundation said skills-first practices reduce cost-per-hire by up to 30%, and cut employee turnover rates by 40%.
The Center of a Skills First Future is funded in part by investments from Walmart, Charles Koch Foundation and Workday. The resources are available on the SHRM Foundation’s website.
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