Join Me This Thursday: Myths, Misperceptions, and Truths About Talent and Skills

The Great Resignation is gathering momentum - which some say is giving workers leverage for the first time in a generation. Yet, despite companies citing “labor shortages” and a “skills gap,” millions of women, Black Americans, and workers without four-year college degrees are still disproportionately excluded from our nation’s recovery. What’s really happening in today’s labor market? How can employers tap into more talent and unlock opportunities?

These are just some of the topics we’ll have a candid conversation about in our LinkedIn livestream, “Myths, Misperceptions, and Truths About Talent and Skills”, on Thursday, November 18, at 11:30 am ET. 

I’ll be joined by thought leaders that bring the experience from talent development, tech, and media to discuss their unique perspectives on today’s talent challenges: 

• Bridgette Gray, Opportunity@Work’s new Chief Customer Officer, who wrote for Grads of Life’s Forbes column, “Rethinking The So-Called “Skills Gap”, and most recently was Chief Impact Officer for Per Scholas.
• Wilkin Sanchez, Founder and CEO at Rhode Island Group for Hispanic Technology, Cybersecurity Associate, and STAR who wrote in TechCrunch earlier this year: “Building back better means hiring more workers skilled through alternative routes”.
• Moderator Ramona Schindelheim, WorkingNation’s Editor-in-Chief, who is an award-winning writer, producer, and journalist, and has worked for CNBC, ABC News, and The Wall Street Journal. 

I hope you will join us for the virtual event.

In the most recent “Opportunity Wrap," Cheston McGuire shares analysis on the paradox in the labor market - and how STARs may be one solution to employers’ talent needs; plus - smart employers share why they’re removing unnecessary “requirements” from the hiring process:

• Citing research from Opportunity@Work and Papia Debroy, Juliana Kaplan writes in Business Insider about how amidst the “so-called labor shortage, ” many still struggle to find work. One reason behind the disconnect? Excluding STARs, says Debroy: "Not recognizing that skills are being gained through alternative routes is not just failing these workers. It's also failing employers…” by preventing them from finding the talent they're looking for. buff.ly/3kwH5gx
• In The Wall Street Journal, Lauren Weber examines the ways that employers like The Body Shop CVS and UPS are changing their hiring processes to attract talent, which “signals a potentially broad rethink of job qualifications, a change that could help millions of people enter jobs previously out of reach.” buff.ly/3c3aeey

In order to attract and retain talent, employers must transform hiring practices and invest in workers. Far too many companies leave their increasingly old-fashioned “degree discrimination” on autopilot, and screen out qualified STARs (talented individuals Skilled Through Alternative Routes) before assessing for skills. Companies adopting modern, skills-based, inclusive hiring and advancement practices will leap over the “labor shortage” and lap the excluders in the race for talent.

All the best,

Byron