The 70 million Americans who are STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) have been under-leveraged in the workforce ecosystem, says Byron Auguste, CEO of Opportunity@Work, which advocates for skills-first hiring to pave the way to workforce access for people without college degrees.
Auguste joined WorkingNation’s editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim for an interview for WorkingNation Overheard at JFF Horizons in Washington, D.C.
He says – despite concerns about algorithmic exclusion – generative AI can help screen for the skills that people have. “There are great tools for hiring managers. There’ll be more on the way. Most hiring managers don’t just hire in a vacuum. They hire in a workflow that may be through an applicant tracking system, maybe through a job board. Ultimately making it as easy to hire inclusively for skills – as it currently is easy to hire in an exclusionary way for degrees is a really important part of it.”
Auguste adds, “The way to tell whether you’re actually doing skills-first hiring is – are you tapping into STARs talent? That’s a super important thing from where we stand.
“The partners in the Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign are really becoming more of a coalition and actually working together. We have most of the big job platforms. We have many large companies. We have many of the premium workforce providers and including competency-based, higher education like Western Governors University.
Opportunity@Work has just announced its received a $20 million grant from MacKenzie Scott’s organization – Yield Giving – which Auguste says will focus on “how to open up opportunities for STARs.”
Learn more about Opportunity@Work.
WorkingNation Overheard at JFF Horizons 2024 was made possible through funding from EnGen.