Breaking Barriers to Build a Stronger Workforce
Outdated filters sideline motivated individuals and cause organizations to miss out on the people who will drive their future growth. In today’s hiring landscape, high-potential talent can often be hidden behind degree requirements.
There’s a better way. SkillsRight’s (Formerly OneTen) 2024 Impact Report, Delivering a Skills-First Future: From Intent to Impact confirms that skills-first hiring is delivering real, measurable results: faster time-to-fill, stronger retention, and a more adaptable, high-performing workforce. Organizations shifting to this approach are not just solving for talent shortages—they’re gaining a performance edge. Unlocking overlooked skills fuels business outcomes and creates opportunities for people like Amari Morgan.
What Can Employers Learn from Amari’s Journey?
Amari is proof that potential isn’t found on paper. It’s demonstrated through action. For years, she was passed over because she didn’t have a four-year degree, despite her drive, adaptability, and tech aptitude.
Through our ecosystem, Amari seized the opportunity to join General Motors as an Associate Controls Technician. In that role, she tested and optimized robotics on the manufacturing line, solved technical challenges, and powered new levels of operational excellence.
Actionable takeaway:
Skilled talent like Amari delivers results when given the opportunity. Employers who drop degree barriers and focus on measurable skills raise standards; they tap into a workforce that’s ready to perform and eager to grow.
How Employers Can Put Skills-First Into Action
- Audit Your Job Requirements.
Review current postings and cut unnecessary degree screens. Define requirements in terms of practical skills, capabilities, and outcomes needed for success.
- Implement Skills-Based Assessments.
Evaluate candidates, regardless of their credentials, based on real-world challenges, hands-on demonstrations, or relevant work samples. This ensures you’re hiring for capability, not just credentials.
- Promote Internal Mobility.
Create clear pathways for incumbent workers to upskill and move into new roles. Offer learning resources and opportunities for advancement based on performance and potential.
- Track Outcomes & ROI.
Monitor retention, time-to-fill, and business impact of your skills-based hires. Use data to celebrate success and continuously refine your hiring strategy.
By taking these steps, you broaden your talent pool, increase team resilience, and accelerate business results.
The Business Case for Removing Degree Screens
The urgency is real: skill gaps are widening, and filling roles the old way is slow and costly. Some leaders worry that removing degree screens may complicate hiring. In fact, skills-first hiring clarifies and de-risks your process. Here’s how you benefit:
- Expanded Talent Pools: Access motivated, diverse candidates who would otherwise go unnoticed—an opportunity underscored in the Embracing a Skills-First Mindset report, which highlights that over 60% of the U.S. workforce lacks a four-year degree, but brings proven, job-ready skills.
- Greater Retention: Skills-based hires stay longer and drive better results. In insights from Hiring Managers: How Employers Can Turn a Skills-First Mindset into Sustained Impact, 96% of hiring managers who removed degree screens report improved alignment and productivity.
- Faster Time-to-Fill: Matching candidates on capability allows you to fill roles with greater speed and confidence.
Amari’s story is not a one-off. Companies everywhere are seeing stronger performance as they open doors to untapped talent. Her journey showcases what’s possible when skills matter more than credentials. If she had been filtered out by a degree requirement, her talent would have been missed. This is a call for action: innovative businesses focus on skills, potential, and agility.
Watch the Impact
See skills-first hiring in action, and how Amari’s journey is reshaping what high performance looks like:
Forge Ahead with Confidence
Shifting to skills-first hiring isn’t just a trend; it’s a transformation that puts you ahead of the curve. Here’s how to move forward now:
- Start with a pilot: Choose a key role and rework the requirements to focus on critical skills.
- Measure the impact: Compare outcomes—like quality, retention, and speed—with traditional processes.
- Share success stories: Inspire leadership and peers with the results, and expand the model across your organization.
Your future leaders may already be in your pipeline, ready to exceed expectations if you give them the chance. Dive deeper into Amari’s story and see the data driving change in the 2024 SkillsRight (Formerly OneTen) Impact Report. Read the full report.
