The ‘Skills Gap’: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

College is a highly valued educational path - as it should be. Many people start on the college path, or want to be on this path - but life gets in the way.  They run out of money. Their family needs them. There is a mountain of life-altering forces that put the college path out of reach for so many. 

Fortunately, college is not the only way to gain valuable skills. In fact, the majority of Americans gained their valuable skills outside of a four-year degree - learning skills through work, community college, military service, bootcamps, coding schools, and more.

The problem is that most employers don’t actually screen for skills. For instance, many companies use “bachelor's degree” as a keyword search in their applicant tracking system, which screens out candidates before any human gets to consider them. This one choice automatically screens out approximately 60% of U.S. workers - including millions of talented individuals who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes. But it’s not the applicant tracking system that is choosing how or who to screen, it is the human behind it.

In a recent Opportunity Wrap, Opportunity@Work’s Cheston McGuire shares that new insights underline the uneven recovery for low-wage workers; The New York Times reveals how some companies are meeting the demand for career paths with growth opportunities; and Opportunity@Work's new Chief Technology Officer shares his career journey and mission to level the playing field for STARs with WorkingNation: 

• New data from Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights initiative reinforces the divergent recovery being felt by low income workers. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, jobs are down 22% for those earning less than $27,000, while workers earning more than $60,000 have seen jobs actually increase by 10%. buff.ly/3D3lkMG  Stuart Andreason
• According to Steve Lohr, workers are making it clear they’re looking for more than higher pay and increased benefits: they want career pathway opportunities. “People in lower-wage work are saying, ‘I’m going to pivot to something better,’” says Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Stuart Andreason. buff.ly/3D68nlx
• As employers struggle to source talent, and STARs seek new career opportunities, Opportunity@Work's Stellarworx platform is a new tool to |evel “the playing field for STARs who otherwise are overlooked” in today’s labor market says CTO Kelcey R. in an interview with WorkingNation’s Ramona Schindelheim. buff.ly/3gj7zjn

As the U.S. works to recover, smart employers are realizing that millions of STARs could do the jobs they desperately need to fill to compete and thrive. But, for companies that leave “degree discrimination” on autopilot, they will continue to screen out qualified STARs before assessing for skills. The result? Their so-called “skills gap” will remain a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

All the best,

Byron