Eliminate a Degree of Difficulty: Hire for Skills, Not School — from bain.com by Joe Lischwe, Alex Noether, Maria Gordian, Andrea D’Arcy, and Jon Barfield; resource via GSV
Too many jobs require college degrees, locking out qualified Black talent. Skills-first hiring helps companies rethink what really matters.

At a Glance

  • Black Americans are 30% less likely than white Americans to have jobs that pay family-sustaining wages—a key factor in the income and family wealth gaps between Black and white Americans.
  • One key barrier to Black talent obtaining these jobs is that 70% to 80% require a four-year college degree, which 75% of Black Americans do not have.
  • Requiring four-year degrees is not the only way to assess talent or identify the best candidates, and skills-first hiring can mitigate this credentials barrier, making the process fairer for all job applicants.
  • The business case is strong: Skills-first hiring criteria are 5 times more predictive of future job performance than educational background and 2.5 times more predictive than work experience.
  • While the transition to skills-first hiring—particularly the shift in culture and mindset it entails—is challenging, there are proven steps companies can take to make the switch successfully, as illustrated by the example of companies in the OneTen coalition such as Merck.