The most admired employers in the world are leveraging skills-first talent practices to unlock competitive advantage, increase productivity, and drive overall business performance. Explore the value of skills-first in their own words.

Skills-First: the emerging gold standard for finding, hiring & growing top talent

Apple
“Our company, as you know, was founded by a college dropout, so we never really thought that a college degree was a thing that you had to have to do well.”
Tim Cook
CEO
General Motors
“As companies have opened new skills-based pathways to employment and advancement, not only is the talent pool larger but, importantly, more diverse. As a result, companies are playing a vital role in broadening economic opportunity and upward mobility for all Americans.”
Mary Barra
CEO
Merck
“With our skills-first talent efforts, we are not lowering the bar, we are widening the gate.”
Ngozi Motilewa
Enterprise HR Lead, Skills-First Partnership and Pathway Initiatives
JPMorgan Chase
“The reality is the future of work is about skills, not just degrees.”
Jamie Dimon
Chairman and CEO

Skills-First can help you:

Find the Right Talent

Skills-First can help you better find the skilled talent your company needs to excel — adding up to 20x more eligible workers to your talent pool.

Hire the Best Talent

Skills-First can help you better hire the people your company needs to compete, while increasing your ability to effectively place talent by 107%.

Grow Talent from Within

Skills-First can help you better grow and retain the standout talent already working in your company, who know your culture; skills-first employers are 98% more likely to retain high performers.

Partner with Grads of Life to start implementing skills-first practices.

Contact Us

Test Your Skills-First Knowledge

True or False?
Skills-First practices primarily benefit workers without degrees.
That's right!
The correct answer is False:

By implementing skills-first practices, employers are 63% more likely to achieve results across key business and workforce outcomes.

View Source
True or False?
Skills-First hiring can help reduce employee turnover.
That's right!
The correct answer is False:

By aligning candidates’ skills with job requirements, skills-first hiring can lead to better job satisfaction, improved performance and lower turnover -- boosting retention by up to 20%.

View Source
True or False?
Skills-First talent management diminishes the value of 4 year college degrees.
That's right!
The correct answer is False:

Rather than diminishing degrees, a skills-first approach values practical skills alongside formal education, recognizing the importance of lifelong learning and the varied paths individuals can take to acquire job-relevant skills.

View Source
True or False?
College degrees are a poor proxy for judging applicants' future performance.
That's right!
The correct answer is False:

Hiring for skills is 5x more predictive of future performance than hiring for education and 2.5x more predictive than hiring for work experience.

View Source
True or False?
With skills-first hiring, it takes longer to fill roles with qualified talent.
That's right!
The correct answer is False:

When recruiting based on skills, companies report filling vacancies much faster, accelerating time to hire by as much as 25%.

View Source

Skills Speak Louder Than Degrees

Industry-leading employers have spoken out about why and how they are prioritizing skills-first talent practices. Here are some of their testimonials.

Use the navigation bar below to filter or search quotes.
Industry
Clear selection
Company Size
Clear selection
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Uh oh! No results found.
Please try broadening your search.

Ready to better your business with skills-first practices?

Reach out to us

Frequently Asked Questions