How many times have you been interested in a job – knew in your bones you could do it – but didn’t even apply after reading “bachelor’s degree required”?
Four-year degrees have been the litmus test in hiring talent for far too long. Many people of color may struggle to find family-sustaining jobs because they don’t have the right degree, and they may not have the right degree because of systemic barriers to degree completion. It’s a vicious cycle often perpetuated by racism.
According to a recent study, nearly two-thirds of American workers do not have a four-year college degree. Yet, 70% of new jobs insist on a bachelor’s degree.
As a medicine company, we employ thousands of people with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math. But our company, with over 39,000 employees around the world, is powered by many other skillsets and experiences that all contribute to innovation.
Companies must rethink how we hire. If a bachelor’s degree is the default for most jobs, that eliminates 76% of Black adults and 83% of Latino adults in the U.S. from our candidate pools.
As a Black man, I have witnessed firsthand how lack of a degree reinforces inequities when it comes to jobs. While I hold two advanced degrees and have ample opportunity to thrive at Lilly, I fully recognize this great privilege and the opportunities I have been afforded.
In my day-to-day role leading the Racial Justice Commitment at Lilly, I work to decrease the burden racial injustices enact on Black and other historically marginalized communities.
As part of this work, I’m particularly proud to drive progress across five areas: internal people development, health equity, social impact, diversity partners and family-sustaining jobs.
Over the last few years, Lilly has removed barriers by implementing a skills-first hiring approach for certain professional, craft and trade roles. We joined the One Ten Coalition in 2020. This organization aims to connect one million Black individuals with family sustaining careers over ten years – championing a “skills-first” approach to hiring.
Skills-first hiring or promoting focuses on the specific skills, experience and competencies a candidate needs to be successful in a role. This method can improve job performance outcomes, increase employee satisfaction, and expose companies to more competitive and diverse talent pools that led to better retention of skilled and qualified candidates.
We established Skills First @ Lilly, an initiative made up of three programs: the Professional Apprenticeship, Craft Pathway Apprenticeship, and Technical Pathway Apprenticeship. The Professional Apprenticeship in particular focuses on providing individuals without college degrees access to roles at Lilly that they may not have had through traditional recruiting means.
Since 2020, more than 120 individuals have been hired into apprenticeships and the majority of them now have full-time jobs with Lilly.
The solution to achieving equity in the workforce and beyond must be multifaceted and sustainable, and it will require focus from companies across industries. Efforts to remove barriers to entry into family-sustaining jobs should go beyond diversity, equity and inclusion, and be grounded in addressing the underlying systemic inequity that cuts off career pathways for qualified candidates.
There is much work to be done to create opportunities for everyone, but it’s possible and will take recognition and drive from many, not just a few, to progress forward.
Guest contributor Terry J. Morris is currently Head of Eli Lilly and Company’s Racial Justice Commitment
