PLACING A GREATER EMPHASIS ON SKILLS IN HIRING AND ADVANCEMENT, IMPROVING EQUITY AND DIVERSITY IN EMPLOYMENT

Nearly 80 Business Roundtable member companies are participating in the Multiple Pathways Initiative, a multi-year targeted effort to reform companies’ hiring and talent management practices to emphasize the value of skills, rather than just degrees, and to improve equity, diversity and workplace culture. The corporate initiative supports efforts to address inequity in employment practices, including how people are hired and how they advance; and it will work toward eliminating unintentional bias that may prove to be a barrier to hiring and advancement.

Companies participating in this effort are implementing new recruitment and assessment strategies to better recognize and evaluate skills of all job seekers. They are also identifying upward career paths that employees can navigate by acquiring new and/or different skills along their career journey. And companies are developing and updating training programs to help employees gain the skills they need to advance.

U.S. companies have traditionally relied on four-year degree requirements as a critical credential, particularly for white collar jobs, and a proxy for job candidates’ qualifications for roles. This practice has excluded many talented Americans, including employees of color, from hiring and promotion and has made it harder for employers to find a sufficient number of skilled employees.

Increasingly, U.S. companies are shifting their hiring and talent management practices to emphasize the value of skills, rather than degrees alone. Taking a more inclusive approach around educational credentials as a job criterion, where possible, can help companies meet their hiring needs and unlock new employment and advancement opportunities for workers from diverse backgrounds.