CEO group stresses skills over degrees in hiring

Education Dive

Natalie Schwartz

December 11, 2020

Dive Brief:

• Business Roundtable, a nonprofit representing CEOs of major U.S. companies, announced a new initiative this week to recognize skills, rather than only college degrees, in the hiring process.

• More than 80 member companies have signed onto the initiative. In addition to implementing new recruitment strategies, they also are updating training programs to help employees gain the skills they need for promotions.

• The news comes as more large companies launch training programs and as many employers look to education benefits to help retain their workers.

Dive Insight:

The initiative is meant to improve equity and diversity in employment. The companies may develop more job advancement pathways and create new training modules to help employees develop skills, including through apprenticeships or working with online learning platforms and external training providers.

Some colleges have been working with employers directly to train their workers. Last year, Arizona State University and a private equity firm launched InStride, a public-benefit corporation that connects employers and higher education institutions.

InStride and the Business Roundtable have joined more than two dozen other organizations, companies and universities in backing a federal bill that aims to expand educational assistance programs. If passed, the Upskilling and Retraining Assistance Act would increase the amount employers can contribute tax-free to employees’ education benefits for two years.

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