As degrees lose their dominance and skills take center stage, leading organizations are shifting toward hiring for skills, not just degrees, and retaining through education. In this post, we’ll show you how skills-based hiring and education benefits work together to build a stronger workforce.

Talent Strategy Snapshot:

• Hire for skills, not just degrees or credentials
• Retain through education benefits
• Upskill or reskill for future readiness
• Support Gen Z and frontline workers
• Reduce churn and mis-hires

Understanding the trend to “earn while you learn”

Gone are the days when a college degree was the golden ticket to a successful career. Students no longer leave school confident that a college degree can land them a good job and a longstanding career, and it’s changing both their education choices and the workforce. Young employees and frontline workers are increasingly opting for an “earn while you learn” approach. They’re entering the workforce without formal education or degrees, wanting to get on-the-job experience and potentially pursuing continued education later on.

But young workers still need training to develop the essential hard skills, especially as new technology or business practices require reskilling. Fortunately, employers that leverage both skills-based hiring and continued education can attract, retain, and facilitate the growth of top talent in a rapidly-changing environment that requires new skill development.

Why companies are shifting towards skill-based hiring

Degrees are no longer the default, but the best companies are adapting, increasingly focusing on hiring for skill sets instead of an applicant’s educational background. At JPMorganChase, for example, 70% of job descriptions for experienced hires focus on specific required skills instead of requiring certain degrees. This skills-based hiring approach is a gamechanger for many organizations that are strategically filling their talent pipelines and addressing future needs.

Here are a few reasons to consider:

Hire Motivated Employees

The idea is simple: If employees have the right soft skills or critical relevant experience, the employer can provide training for the rest. At a time when some employers are struggling to find motivated young workers, this approach can help find strong culture-fits with long-term potential.

This hiring strategy comes at the right time, since the high school-to-college pipeline is being disrupted. More young people are skeptical about whether college is “worth it,” especially in light of student loan debt. This is driving more young workers to enter the workforce right out of school, especially knowing they can pursue training, degrees, or non-degree education down the road.

Hire Faster and Smarter

Skill-based hiring can also help you identify the right candidate faster. A study from TestGorilla found that 90% of companies that use a skill-based hiring method actually reduced their number of mis-hires. 94% of survey participants also said that skill-based hiring was more predictive of on-the-job-success than resumes alone.

Let’s say you’re hiring a software engineer, for example. You may have ten great applicants that all have comparable college degrees, but only one has experience with your tech stack or the computer language your team works with. The relevant experience and skill set matters more than the degree.

Attract and Retain Young Talent

Meanwhile, your team can find young, motivated talent with the potential for growth when you don’t focus exclusively on degree-based hiring. Since some managers are reportedly wary of hiring Gen Z employees, citing poor communication, team work, adaptability, and conflict resolution skills, it’s important to find the right candidates who have the soft skills needed to thrive in a professional environment.

Letting employees “earn while they learn” can be a critical part of attracting and retaining young and motivated employees. They can start working in your industry, gain organizational knowledge, and work their way up with ongoing training and continued education opportunities. Based on your education benefits program, they may even attain their degree working for you.

6 best practices for skills-based hiring for companies

Skill-based hiring can help you attract, retain, and develop your workforce, especially when combined with continued education. Let’s review six strategies that can help you find and acquire the right talent.

1. Account for soft skills during hiring

We’ve already discussed soft skills, but we can’t stress enough that they shouldn’t be overlooked - especially in the age of AI. Soft skills are invaluable, and can be a crucial part of finding the right culture fit. And this likely won’t change, with McKinsey predicting that 80% of the skills workers need to be successful will be soft skills like creative thinking, adaptability, and interpreting complex information.

To assess these skills effectively, companies can also incorporate targeted behavioral interview questions, skills-based assessments, and collaborative exercises into the hiring process. For example, if teamwork is an essential skill, hiring managers can ask candidates to describe specific instances where they’ve worked cross-functionally or navigated challenging team dynamics. An employee with all the right technical skills but is inflexible, doesn’t communicate well, and is unwilling to collaborate with coworkers can derail a team quickly.

With in-house training programs and employee education assistance benefits, you can hire for soft skills and train for hard skills down the line. This offers the distinct benefit of making it easy for employees to upskill to fulfill gaps in your workforce as labor needs or skill sets change over time. With AI changing the workforce, for example, you may need workers who are willing to adapt to and learn the technology to leverage it in their day-to-day roles.

2. Include specific skills in your job description

Many candidates know that they should tailor their resumes based on the job description they’re applying to, ideally mentioning specific skills mentioned in the posting. As a result, make sure that you list the skills you’re prioritizing. This can increase the quality of applications and help you identify strong-fit applicants quickly.

Let’s say the job description stresses that you want a team player. A candidate may submit a cover letter that details their experience collaborating with cross-department teams, when they may not have thought to do so otherwise.

3. Leverage continued education to address skills gaps 

Continued education— through both in-house training programs and employee education assistance benefits— is critical for organizations prioritizing skill-based hiring.

With 55% of leaders across diverse industries saying they were concerned about having enough talent to fill roles in the years ahead, the ability to acquire, keep, and develop top talent is invaluable. You can offer training and upskilling opportunities to motivated employees so they can ultimately fill important roles down the line.

Continued education can be an important part of retaining all workers longer— even when you’re working with frontline workers that may have plans to change roles entirely. McDonald’s offered continued education benefits with EdAssist™ and saw the following results:

• 75% of participants said they stayed at McDonald’s longer because of the program.
• 79% said they learned job-related skills and life skills that they still use today during their time working for McDonald’s.
• 88% said they gained confidence in their skills and abilities during their program.

4. Feature tuition assistance to attract high-potential talent

Tuition assistance is a particularly powerful benefit for worker attraction and retention. EdAssist’s Education Index found that 82% of workers would choose a job at a company that offered education benefits over one that didn’t, increasing acquisition. Our study also found that 84% of workers said they’d be more loyal to a company that invested in their education, boosting retention.  

You can work with education benefits partners like EdAssist to offer tuition assistance, which makes it possible for employees to either pursue formal degrees or short, stackable, skill-based learning to gain new skills fast. This can increase employee retention and help you upskill your workforce.

EdAssist offers multiple tuition and student loan assistance options that employers can choose from, including:

• Tuition reimbursement: Adult learners receive tuition reimbursement for completed classes at the end of the semester.
• Direct pay tuition assistance: Employers pay a student’s tuition directly to the institution or school, eliminating the need for employees to front the cost themselves.
• Student loan repayment options: Match a percentage of an employee’s student loan payments or match a percentage of student loan payments in retirement contributions. These options can help employees pay off debt and prioritize their overall financial wellness.

For best results, mention tuition assistance in job descriptions, on your company’s career page, and during interviews. This benefit is often appealing to workers who are willing to work hard within an organization, helping you attract motivated candidates.

Learn how EdAssist can help you meet your Workforce Education goals.

5. Encourage upskilling for internal growth opportunities

While younger generations are more likely to churn faster as employees than older workers, there is an important caveat: Almost half of younger generations said they’d stay with a company if there were internal growth opportunities.

As a result, offering continued education and upskilling opportunities can help attract and retain young top talent that you can develop into the workforce you need.

Career Pathways allow you to highlight in-demand roles and what employees need to do to qualify for them. EdAssist also offers personalized coaching and guidance to help employees determine how to reach their professional goals within your company. Academic and career coaching can help students choose degree and non-degree programs that will benefit their careers (and your organization).

Managers should also be trained to encourage their direct reports to upskill and participate in continued education programs. This may increase program adoption and workforce development, helping more employees be eligible for internal promotions when they’re available.

6. Reduce friction in the continued education journey

Tuition assistance alone is an incredible benefit that can help employees pursue continued education without taking out student loans— but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still challenges.

When your organization can reduce friction that employees may experience in their upskilling journey, you can increase program participation. A few examples of reducing friction may include:

• Direct pay tuition assistance: With so many Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, some employees may not be able to afford waiting for tuition reimbursement. Offering direct pay reduces financial strain and makes it easier for workers to participate.
• Student loan repayment options: By helping employees pay off existing debt faster, you can reduce financial stress and may even free them up from a second job or side hustle. They can focus more on their continued education as a result.
• Financial coaching: EdAssist’s financial coaches can help students determine how to get the most out of their benefits, how to pay off existing debt, and how to pay for any additional costs their benefits don’t cover.
• Career and academic coaching: EdAssist’s career and academic coaching can help workers choose programs to meet their immediate and long-term career goals, preventing overwhelm.
• Offer support to adult learners: When possible, offer support to your employees that are using their continued education benefits. If they need to take time off for an in-person test, for example, make it as easy as possible for them to get the PTO they need.

Continued education helps skill-based hires thrive

Skill-based hiring is an important strategy when you want to hire the right talent the first time around, and continued education is key to retaining that talent and developing it into the workforce you need.

To effectively leverage skill-based hiring, you want to be prepared to take the next step: Offering education assistance programs that will help your team upskill and grow.

When you’re ready, we can help your organization develop a customized education assistance program that will help you attract and upskill motivated workers with your choice of tuition assistance, student loan repayment options, and financial and career coaching benefits.

Ready to get started? Learn more about how we can help your company offer competitive education assistance benefits today.