SHRM26 Debrief · Modern Employee Experience · #2970

Charting the Future of Work: A Fireside Chat

with Emily Dickens

& Dr. Henry Mack

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~64 min, distilled

skills-based hiringregistered apprenticeshipsworkforce development boards

"84% of organizations who are offering apprenticeship programs report that they have been effective at addressing talent shortages, yet only 23% currently offer or participate."

What it was about

The US Department of Labor is trying to fix a broken education-to-employment pipeline by shifting employers and educators away from degree-default hiring toward skills-based hiring, registered apprenticeships, and verified learning-and-employment records. It treats AI as a workforce-transformation issue rather than a pure job-displacement threat.

By the numbers

only about 50% of students actually have the skills employers think they have

employer survey on graduate skills, contrasted with graduate self-perception

16 to $21,000 more on average per year for registered apprentices vs. college degree graduates in the same field (e.g., IT)

Department of Labor study on apprenticeship wage outcomes

only 23% currently offer or participate in apprenticeship programs

gap between apprenticeship effectiveness and adoption

Key notes

Push employers toward skills-based hiring and job postings instead of defaulting to degree requirements, since a recent DOJ opinion on Title VII disparate impact liability removed a major legal deterrent to doing so.
Investigate registered apprenticeships, including degree-connected ones, since they are federally subsidized, offer pay-for-performance funding to employers (cash for hiring, retaining, and completing an apprentice), and reduce paperwork after recent deregulation.
Use Workforce Pell (available starting July 1) to help even bachelor's-degree holders fund non-loan-based apprenticeship or certificate training.

The contrarian takeThe speaker argues employers should stop defaulting to bachelor's-degree requirements and credentialing generally, calling this shift 'a watershed moment' enabled by a Department of Justice opinion narrowing Title VII disparate impact liability. That frames anti-discrimination liability concerns, not just habit, as a key reason employers over-credential jobs.

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Audit one entry-level job posting and remove the bachelor's-degree requirement if the role doesn't actually need it.

Say this in your next leadership meeting

80-90% of entry-level workers are over-credentialed for their jobs, so we're exploring skills-based hiring and apprenticeships instead of defaulting to degree requirements.

Watch out for

Defaulting to bachelor's-degree requirements for entry-level jobs that don't need them, creating overqualified hires and pipeline mismatch.
Assuming registered apprenticeships are only for construction trades or take 2,000-3,000 hours, discouraging employer participation despite high reported effectiveness.
Treating self-reported skills on resumes, LinkedIn, and transcripts as reliable signals ('skill fishing') without verification.

Fun fact · Dr. Henry Mack

Before joining the Department of Labor, he ran Florida's entire higher-education system as Chancellor, a $3 billion budget covering 1.5 million students.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperCulture Redefined: Architecting a Skills-Driven, Continuous Feedback CultureShows what skills-based hiring looks like once someone's actually inside the door.⇄ The counterpointEvolving Inclusion and Culture for Workforce Performance, Trust & GrowthFrames the same skills-based shift as a trust move, not a liability shield.✦ The unexpected oneWhen Employee Relations Isn't Enough: A CLEAR Framework for Protected Class InvestigationsThe legal-risk framework needed once disparate-impact liability shows up anyway, degree requirement or not.