Introduction to STARs and Stellarworx
Prepared for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Opportunity@Work is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase career opportunities for the more than 70 million adults in the United States who do not have a four-year college degree but are Skilled Through Alternative Routes—or “STARs.” We build products, tools, and solutions that enable companies to hire STARs based on in-demand skills—not pedigree. Together with employers, educators, workforce leaders, and philanthropists, Opportunity@Work and its partners are rewiring the labor market for STARs to unlock their full earning potential.
Opportunity@Work and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have partnered to open career pathways for STARs. This web page contains information for the Secretariats, introducing STARs, skills-based hiring, and Opportunity@Work’s STARs talent marketplace, Stellarworx.
.png)
STARs are workers aged 25 or older who are active in the labor force and have a high school diploma or equivalent. They are Skilled Through Alternative Routes, such as on-the-job experience, community college, military service, or workforce skilling programs, rather than a bachelor’s degree.
There are 70+ million STARs in the US workforce. STARs represent a vast and diverse pool of talent, including a majority of BIPOC groups, as well as a majority of veterans and rural workers, and are located in all regions across the country.
There are 1.4M STARs in Massachusetts
- 43% of workers in Massachusetts are STARs, yet they represent 65% of all low-wage workers in Massachusetts.
- The median wage for STARs in Massachusetts is $21.47, slightly above than the national median wage of $18.50.
- However, STARs in Massachusetts earn 58 cents to every dollar earned by a worker with a degree.
- White STARs in Massachusetts earn $5-6 more per hour than Black, Hispanic and Asian American Pacific Islander STARs.
- STARs in Massachusetts earn nearly $16 less per hour than workers with a Bachelor’s Degree.
- STARs in Massachusetts vary in their pathways to mobility. Currently, 3% of STARs in Massachusetts are already in high-wage occupations (we call them “Shining STARs”, while 48% currently have the skills necessary to move into significantly higher-paying occupations (we call them “Rising STARs”).
Skills-based hiring broadens your talent pool
Opportunity@Work’s analysis of labor market data revealed that STARs have the skills to meet employers’ talent needs; they build skills in many lower-wage jobs that are similar to those required for higher-wage work. Skills-based hiring helps fill open roles with high-quality talent in addition to helping expand opportunities to tens of millions of Americans.
30 million STARs have the skills and potential to see transformative wage gains of more than 70% if they got the chance to show what they can do.
Hiring STARs is diverse hiring
Bachelor’s degree requirements automatically screen out a majority of Black and Hispanic workers, as well as veterans and rural workers. A recent report from Opportunity@Work shows that half of Black STARs are demonstrating skills on the job that position them for higher wage work now.
It simply isn’t possible to create a more diverse workforce without incorporating STARs into your hiring strategy.
How can we find and hire more STARs?
STARs are everywhere, yet they are hard to find with traditional job searching methods. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has partnered with Opportunity@Work to find and hire more STARs into career pathway jobs in state government roles.
Through this partnership, roles open to STARs will be posted on Opportunity@Work’s talent matching platform, Stellarworx. Stellarworx was built specifically for STARs and for employers looking to hire them, and helps employers fill their talent pipeline with more STARs. With direct access to more STARs and a faster way to find the best candidates using advanced skills-based matching techniques, employers like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can accelerate inclusive hiring across their organization.
Below you can access Stellarworx, or take a guided tour of the primary features.
About Opportunity@Work
Opportunity@Work is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is enable at least 1 million working adults in America to translate their learning into earning – generating a $20 billion boost in annual earnings. Opportunity@Work engages with corporate, philanthropic, and workforce partners to directly address the barriers that STARs face, recognize STARs talent and remove bachelor’s degree screens. Learn more at www.opportunityatwork.org.