There has recently been a significant shift to skills-based hiring practices in the workforce. As players within the workforce ecosystem begin to embrace skills-based hiring, employers must be prepared to follow the same approach for talent acquisition. Typically, engaging employers is considered an afterthought in workforce development planning and strategizing, usually brought into the conversation only when a job seeker or learner has reached the end of their workforce journey. All players within the workforce ecosystem require business collaboration and feedback at every stage of pipeline development.
When employers can actively participate with other workforce ecosystem players, talent pipelines for all organizational levels and positions are better filled. By listening to their stories and recognizing their challenges, we can appreciate their role in enhancing workforce strategies, shaping talent pipelines, and working toward solutions that connect the future of workforce ecosystems. Let’s begin by looking closely at common challenges employers may face.
Employers experience many challenges when filling talent pipelines, such as integrating skills-based hiring into their practices, verifying candidates’ skills without a formal degree or certification, and scaling this process to ensure that more individuals with relevant skills can compete for quality jobs. These obstacles are even more challenging to overcome because there are few examples of employers successfully implementing these frameworks. As small and large businesses work to adopt skills-based hiring, they must embrace partnerships and scalable solutions to address these hurdles.
For example, industries like electrical work rely heavily on skills-based training programs and apprenticeships to recruit and retain talent. Despite a steady pool of potential workers each year, this profession struggles to fill vacancies. There are approximately 700,000 electricians in the United States, yet around 80,000 positions remain open, representing about 11% of all available electrician jobs. One reason for this shortage may be the manual verification process required to validate a job seeker's credentials.
When companies are looking to fill talent pipelines, they often request traditional resumes. A pool of applicants may send in a traditional PDF resume. The issue is that these resumes are not verified by an entity. For example, a job-seeking electrician may have acquired numerous credentials through training programs or apprenticeships. However, one of the training programs they attended no longer exists, so the qualification can not be easily verified.
Companies that hire talent, including electricians, understand the necessity of partnering with apprenticeship programs, local education institutions, or training providers to attract quality talent. Historically, this is where they find their strongest candidates. However, the roadblocks lie in the transfer of information (applicants’ verified credentials) and collaboration between training providers and employers, employers and education institutions, and so on and so forth.
These entities often operate on fragmented systems and siloed data, which prevents employers from engaging early on, collaborating on strategic initiatives, and providing actionable feedback. This issue perpetuates workforce shortages across sectors, even though all players have a shared mission of filling open jobs.
We recently interviewed Kathy Mannes, Senior Advisor at Jobs for the Future (JFF), to get her perspective on filling talent pipelines in today’s labor market. Mannes brings extensive expertise in workforce development, business engagement, and talent solutions. Her background includes leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Labor, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the National Retail Federation, where she built impactful partnerships to address educational and employment needs.
Mannes emphasized, “We haven’t been honest about the role employers can play in determining how to make education and learning most relevant. It’s giving them a chance to drive, based on what they’re looking for.” By involving employers early on, workforce initiatives can create flexible pathways that ensure skills taught align with industry needs. Mannes compared the process to constructing a tree, where individuals have foundational skills that form the “trunk,” as the individual acquires more specialized skills through different experiences (programs, trainings, classes), these skills develop into the branches. By embracing this approach, employers can better fill pipelines with workers and learners that have the skills and ability for evolving roles.
The modern approach requires solutions and partners that help learners and job seekers grow their foundational skills into a strong "trunk" while enabling employers to nurture the development of specialized skills as the "branches" of their careers.
The encouraging news is that partners and platforms are available to help employers bridge the gap in workforce initiatives. Investing in these partnerships ultimately benefits employers by creating robust talent pipelines. Technologies like digital credentials, digital wallets, and Learning and Employment Records (LERs) enable genuine interoperability among workforce players, creating more connected and meaningful partnerships.
Supporting platforms make it easier for employers to verify applicants' credentials and connect with apprenticeship programs, local educational institutions, training providers, and community-based organizations. For example, an employer looking to hire electricians could connect seamlessly with an apprenticeship program with interoperable systems. The platform could allow employers to quickly verify job seekers' credentials from a youth apprenticeship program. This insight would help fill a hiring gap and foster collaboration with local apprenticeship programs.
The truth is that workforce players want to engage with each other; they all share a common goal of filling talent pipelines and opening the door for job seekers and learners to enter meaningful employment. The technologies are the key to unlocking the door of opportunities, making it easy for players to communicate, collaborate, and make informed decisions. When workforce ecosystems can demonstrate their progress and impact through data and dashboards, they have a stronger case for gaining state funding. These tools promote shared accountability, preventing job seekers and learners from slipping through the cracks, resulting in more filled positions and helping economic prosperity.
Engaging employers early in workforce strategies is crucial for connecting talented individuals to meaningful employment through apprenticeship, training, or higher education programs. Leveraging interoperable technology to enhance partnerships among workforce players gives employers more control over initiatives. These solutions facilitate cross-agency collaboration, providing a comprehensive view of the talent pipeline from end to end. Employers should prioritize collaborative approaches and see their involvement as a worthwhile investment in their talent pipelines, not just an act of philanthropy.