HR’s Role in Fixing the Education-to-Employment Pipeline

Earlier this year, SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, testified before Congress that the education-to-employment pipeline was “leaky, broken, and busted.” There are problems all along the pipeline, as too many students graduate high school unprepared for work, too many graduates of higher education lack industry-aligned skills, and many qualified members of certain demographic groups go overlooked.

Together, these challenges are the root of the skills crisis facing America today, SHRM Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary Emily M. Dickens, J.D., said during the June 29 session “Strengthening the Education to Employment Pipeline” at SHRM25 in San Diego.

Exploring U.S. Talent Challenges

The workforce of tomorrow depends on aligning education with evolving industry needs, then connecting qualified graduates with employment opportunities. While vacant jobs have outnumbered job seekers since mid-2021, a skills gap is currently compounding the labor shortage, Dickens said.

More than a third of HR professionals (37%) said candidates not having necessary technical skills contributed to their recruiting challenges, and 30% said the same about soft skills, according to the upcoming 2025 Talent Trends report from SHRM. Additionally, 19% of HR professionals said a lack of candidates with the right credentials or certifications contributed to their challenges, and 14% said the same about candidates not meeting educational requirements, Dickens noted.

Partnerships Critical to Solving Skill Challenges

The skills businesses need are always evolving, but there’s a constant need for companies to be able to trust that educational institutions are meeting a high bar of quality, said Lily Bi, president and CEO of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. That means that as businesses develop new skill needs, educators need to respond with updated curricula.

“The syllabus shouldn’t be 10 years old,” she said.

That requires educators and businesses to form long-term partnerships and communicate about what’s working and what’s not. “The purpose of business school is to serve and advance the business community,” Bi said. “And you can’t serve somebody if you don’t understand their needs.”

Educational institutions also need to understand the needs of their students, said Steven Lee, CEO of the SkillUp Coalition, a nonprofit focused on helping the 70 million U.S. workers without college degrees find pathways to career advancement. Adult learners who are going back to school to learn a specific skill have different needs and are often working within firm constraints, he said. They often find themselves short on money and time, and may lack confidence that their work will be rewarded.

“They have a lot of doubt,” Lee said. “We want to help folks work through their doubt, not let it push them out.”

Students often need help articulating their skills, Lee added, so that businesses can see the value they would bring as employees. Educators need to listen to industry contacts to better understand emerging skill needs, but they also need to teach workers how to showcase the value of what they’ve learned.

“Older students don’t want to wait,” said Antoinette Farmer-Thompson, president of Strayer University. “They want stackable credentials. They want employment opportunities. They want economic mobility.”

Even when employers offer tuition assistance, that benefit can be difficult to access, she noted. Strayer is working to create partnerships with employers to make it easier for students to take advantage of educational opportunities. “Don’t build the bridge; be the bridge,” she said.

Recognizing Untapped Talent

Some workers face demographics barriers to employment, even after they’ve done the work to enhance their skills, Dickens said. Veterans and other members of the military community, workers over the age of 60, and people with criminal records are some of the untapped talent pools that could be instrumental in closing the U.S. skills gap, she said.

While the military offers tremendous training opportunities tied to its mission, private-sector organizations often overlook how the skills gained in service translate to civilian life, said Carl Dean, associate vice chancellor for human resources at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. An aircraft mechanic, for example, could transition into automotive repair, he said. “Not everyone realizes how military skills transfer to employment,” he said.

Advocacy Makes Change Possible

Public policy also plays a key role in closing the skills gap, Dickens said. While SHRM currently supports several federal workforce development bills before the 119th Congress, state legislatures can also make an impact, she noted. For instance, a 2019 act in North Carolina set a goal of ensuring 2 million North Carolinians aged 25-44 hold an industry-valued credential or postsecondary degree by 2030.

Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of myFutureNC Inc., a statewide initiative focused on the state’s educational attainment goal, said the issue enjoyed broad bipartisan support and has gone on to great success. Since the law’s passage, the state’s attainment gap has shrunk from 400,000 people shy of meeting the law’s goal, to just 55,000.

Holden’s organization is now focused on work in rural counties that lag behind the state’s goals, helping to bring the economic mobility that comes from education to more people. “Rural communities need more help,” she said. “The way we accelerate action is by connecting people to resources.”

Get Involved

Great things are possible when HR professionals lend their skills and perspectives to the world of public policy, Dickens said. That involvement can take a variety of forms, including awareness of issues, formal group advocacy through organizations like SHRM, and even actions such as serving on public boards or running for office.

“There’s got to be someone reminding your city, your state, that HR is important,” she said.

By aligning education with workforce demands and championing skills-based hiring, HR professionals have the power to shape a future-ready talent pipeline. Any SHRM member can get involved with the SHRM Advocacy Team and add their voice to the call to strengthen the education-to-employment pipeline.