As the Chamber continues our longstanding commitment to the fight for equality, we’re highlighting ways our business community can implement new strategies to meaningfully increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to bring about lasting change in our organizations and throughout the region.
This month, we’re exploring skills-based hiring in the context of equitable hiring. Organizations across the region are increasingly turning to skills-based hiring to reveal an untapped, and growing, talent pool, one that can also lend itself to nurturing a new generation of Black and brown leaders, a tenet of our renewed commitment to equity.
With the help of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (the Fed), we’re offering insight into how skills-based hiring and DEI intersect, what the concept looks like in action, and resources for your organization to get started.
Skills-based hiring approaches talent with an asset mindset.
Recently conducted research by the Fed found that the qualifications employers seek are oftentimes transferable skills that span low-wage to higher-wage jobs. The Fed defines skills-based hiring as hiring with more focus on the inherent human skills that jobseekers possess, and remembering that they are not in fact low-skilled just because they hold low-wage jobs.
Essentially, skills-based hiring can be understood as hiring for those transferable skills, rather than a college degree.
In the context of DEI, recent research found that 78% of Black workers and 83% of Latinx workers in the United States do not have a four-year degree and, as a result, are more likely to belong to the nearly 71 million Americans that are skilled through alternative routes, like trade school or on-the-job experience.
As we seek to diversify our workplaces, thinking beyond the diverse candidates in already existing talent pools will prove crucial in identifying and recruiting Black and brown workers.
To embed skills-based hiring into your DEI practice, start simple.
Taking the concept of skills-based hiring from principle to practice can be as simple as removing artificial barriers, like college degree requirements. The Fed suggests that employers start by thinking critically about job descriptions, identify key competencies necessary for a role, and find innovative ways to recognize and test those competencies beyond a resume review.
Another move could be forming partnerships with community organizations, colleges, workforce boards, technical schools, and other workforce organizations.
Identify resources to get started today.
A number of Greater Philadelphia-based programs and initiatives exist to help employers connect with trained candidates.
Through the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, University City District targets unemployed job-seekers and prepares them to fill career-ladder jobs that offer opportunities for advancement. Learn more about how this opportunity can uncover transformative talent and deepen employers’ connection to the community. »
The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians’ Contextualized ESL and Skills Training program helps English Language Learners co-currently learn proficient English language skills while working on occupational skills. Fill out an interest form to learn more »
This summer, the Chamber and leaders across the region made a commitment to equity, pledging to identify areas for change to hold ourselves accountable to a high standard of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplaces and throughout the region.
We position diversity, equity, and inclusion as critical for business maturation and growth. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative drives economic competitiveness, highlights diverse employee populations, and promotes inclusive growth throughout our region.
