Workforce leaders collaborate to move beyond degree requirements
Washington, D.C. – The National Governors Association (NGA) this week hosted its Skills in the States Symposium, bringing together governors’ workforce policy staff, state agency leaders, private sector partners and national experts to advance skills-first hiring and talent management strategies in states. Workforce leaders from 17 states joined the three-day conference.
“We need to create more pathways and opportunities for good-paying jobs and sustainable careers,” said NGA CEO Brandon Tatum. “Governors in more than 30 states have taken action to remove degree requirements from state government jobs – opening opportunity to thousands of workers. The NGA is working with companies like Walmart to scale the same model in the private sector. This is a turning point for the economy, and the government — education and employment sectors have to move together, or too many workers will be left behind. To keep up with technological change and ensure skilled workers without degrees can compete, it’s time to rethink training and hiring practices across the board.”
The NGA continues to partner with national experts and private sector leaders on a new national effort to revamp workforce systems to make education and hiring practices more responsive to real-world labor market needs while opening doors to the 60% of Americans who do not have a college degree.
“The future of work will depend on stronger alignment between employers, educators, and workforce leaders — and states are uniquely positioned to bring those partners together,” said Julie Gehrki, President – Walmart Foundation and Senior Vice President, Philanthropy – Walmart Inc. “Skills-based hiring helps unlock talent and create pathways to economic mobility, but its full promise is realized when states also invest in education and training systems that reflect labor market demand. Governors can lead the way in creating people-led economies that recognize skills, experience, and knowledge — no matter how people acquire them.”
“As leaders of the largest companies in the United States, Business Roundtable members are committed to strengthening the American workforce by expanding access to jobs and career advancement,” said Business Roundtable Senior Vice President Dane Linn. “The Multiple Pathways Initiative supports companies in their efforts to make hiring and promotion decisions based on skills, rather than just degrees. Skills-based hiring helps companies fill critical talent needs while creating new pathways to economic mobility for both new and current employees. BRT CEOs are already seeing results, and they remain committed to advancing skills-based practices that help expand economic opportunity.”
“We’ve seen significant progress across state leaders to move the mission forward on removing degree requirements and skills-based hiring, and in partnership with NGA, we’re uncovering pain points and building the infrastructure to assist states in this work,” said Dr. Christopher Laney, Lightcast Vice President, Public Sector Impact. “As states lead the change on unnecessary degree barriers, modernize hiring, and make public sector talent systems more responsive to the way work is changing, we’ve worked alongside NGA’s Skills in the States initiative to better understand challenges facing this movement among talent leaders and develop a first-of-its-kind toolkit to help states keep pace with the momentum.”
“We’re partnering closely with a cohort of states to ensure they have the data and tools needed to fill and develop talent in critical public sector roles,” said Gauri Rege, Senior Industrial-Organizational Researcher at AIR. “This work will help states define the skills needed for mission-critical jobs today and in the future, strengthen hiring and talent development using the evidence- based skills data, and measure the value of these investments to drive more fair and effective skills-based talent efforts.”
NGA partnered with Walmart and Jobs for the Future to launch its first Skills-Driven State Community of Practice in 2022. Building on that foundation, a second phase launched in 2024 in collaboration with Opportunity@Work and the Burning Glass Institute.
NGA’s Center for Best Practices launched the next phase of Skills in the States in collaboration with Business Roundtable in 2025 – expanding the initiative beyond public-sector adoption to foster a learning community of public and private sector leaders committed to implementing skills-first hiring and talent management strategies.
In February 2026, NGA partnered with Walmart and the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) to launch Powering Trust in Skills, releasing Governing Talent Marketplaces: A Guide for State Leaders. The initiative and guide provide practical tools to move from skills-based vision to durable, scalable implementation.
Check out these resources to learn more about NGA’s work to support skills-based hiring:
- Supporting States’ Shift to Skills: NGA, C-BEN, Walmart Partner to Strengthen Public Talent Infrastructure (2026)
- Governors Leading Innovative Skills First Networks: NGA Partners with Business Roundtable (2025)
- NGA Launches 1st Skills-Driven State Community of Practice (2022)
- Building the Skills Infrastructure States Need (pilot project with AIR)
- Empowering Progress: Harnessing Skills-Based Strategies to Drive Public Sector Excellence
- Governors Leading on Job Creation and Skills Development
- Driving Public Sector Innovation Through Skills-Based Hiring
- Growing Number of States Drop Degree Requirements
