Reimagine your talent strategy
Download our guide on building a stronger workforce by hiring for skills and creating equitable pathways for workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes.
STARs—workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes—make up half of the U.S. workforce, but they’re experiencing a decades-long wage decline and limited economic mobility. Every year, 10 million jobs open on promising pathways. What if STARs filled more of them?
Explore 3 key findings in support of building an equitable workforce system for STARs:
Few STARs achieve upward mobility despite having skills for higher-wage work
Some STARs achieve mobility through a number of promising pathways
Black, Hispanic & Women STARs are underrepresented on pathways with mobility
Close an ever-expanding wage gap
While STARs have the skills required for higher wage work, our analysis of job transitions revealed STARs fill a relatively low share of these roles. While STARs made 79.5 million job transitions from 2010-2019, only 39% led to an increase in wages of 10% or higher; 23% were lateral moves; and 37% led to lower wages. The wage gap between workers with a bachelors degree and those Skilled Through Alternative Routes has grown wider and wider over the past 40 years.
Support transitions to destination jobs
We identified 292 destination jobs where STARs achieved the higher wage. The vast majority of transitions were from low-wage to middle-wage jobs. The smallest share was from middle-wage to high-wage roles.
Our reseach points to an additional phase in the transition to wage growth: gateway jobs offer significant pay increases from origin jobs and can lead to higher-wage destination jobs. Gateway roles appear to provide STARs with the skills they need to facilitate career and wage growth.
Employers can facilitate these transitions by recognizing skills gained through alternative routes such as on-the-job training or certifications and creating pathways to growth.
