On June 22, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing titled “Competencies Over Degrees: Transitioning to a Skills-Based Economy.” The hearing was a response to what committee members described as an ongoing disconnect between employers and the skilled workforce.
Those testifying on this matter were Dr. Karin Kimbrough, LinkedIn’s Chief Economist; Dr. Mark Smith, the Society for Human Resource Management’s Director of HR Thought Leadership; Dr. Papia Debroy, Senior Vice President of Insights for Opportunity@Work; and Mr. Dan Healey, SAP’s Head of People for Customer Success.
The witnesses stated that high demand for skilled labor exists in many sectors, but many of these positions utilize bachelor’s degrees as proxy indicators of skill level, and therefore eliminate a large portion of the potential workforce. While continuing to emphasize the importance of post-secondary education, committee members questioned the witnesses on best practices to transition to alternative measurements of skill. Chairwoman Virgina Foxx (R-NC) stated: “The old ways of developing talent are not working for today’s economy.”
Dr. Karin Kimbrough shared that LinkedIn’s research found that when shifting to a skills-first hiring approach, the number of qualified eligible workers increased by nearly 20 times. With an estimated 1.6 unfilled positions for every unemployed individual, Kimbrough suggested to the committee that skills-based hiring allows employers to satisfy their demand for skilled labor.
Along with echoing these arguments, Dr. Mark Smith presented the effectiveness of pre-employment assessments to gauge skill levels. When questioned about how to best facilitate transitioning to skills-based hiring, he encouraged the committee to incentivize and support employers in their use of these assessments.
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), citing his role as co-chair of the House CTE Caucus, questioned the witnesses on how CTE programs specifically can connect skilled students to employers. Mr. Dan Healey stated that developing relationships between employers and administrators of these programs would allow students to develop skills aligned with local employment needs.
Throughout the hearing, the committee, supported by recommendations from the witnesses, enthusiastically committed to bipartisan efforts to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and expand its reach to those not previously touched by its programs through specifically implementing a skill-based hiring approach.
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