No Job Seeker Left Behind: Three Steps to a Broader Talent Pool

An essential part of my work as Indeed’s SVP of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is breaking down bias and barriers in the hiring process. For me, it’s not just a corporate responsibility — it’s personal.

I’ve been working since I was 14, sometimes two jobs at a time. I never had an internship; I began my career in operations roles at startups during the first dot-com bubble. But when that bubble burst, I was laid off for the first time in my life. I was jobless for six months, despite my best efforts to find a new position. I had to move back in with my parents. I couldn’t sustain myself and my son on my own, and I was ashamed.

Why was it so difficult for someone with skills and experience like mine to successfully find employment? I was turned down over and over again because I don’t have a college degree.

When I finally did land a job (thanks to a friend), I went from making $90,000 a year to $11.75 an hour. This is why making work more accessible and equitable is so important to me. 

I understand what it’s like to face barriers to employment, to be evaluated on credentials versus skill and to feel like the world of work has left me behind. If I’ve felt this way, imagine how many millions of talented job seekers are out there who, just like me, have been underappreciated, underestimated and overlooked because they can’t check the right box on a job application. 

Imagine how much untapped talent your company is missing out on.

The World of Work Is Broken for Many. But We Can Fix It.

New approaches to recruiting are a necessity in today’s volatile talent landscape. Employer demand for workers is going strong, with employers still “hoarding workers” in the face of rising layoffs and general unease about an impending global recession. Voluntary resignations remain high, with one in five workers planning to quit by the end of last year. 

In October of last year, Indeed Hiring Lab data showed Canadian job postings on the site were up nearly 60% from their pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, job seekers and consumers alike are gravitating to companies and brands that not only support but create actionable change. In this environment, recruiting strategies that were once “good enough” are now looking threadbare and tired. 

This is the moment to build a future of better work for everyone by hiring outside the box. Where some companies will continue to feel the labour market crunch, others will seize this opportunity to adapt and grow. Organizations that thrive will widen their talent pools by welcoming untapped talent who have historically faced barriers to employment.

Here are two ways to break down some common barriers — not only for those without post-secondary degrees, but also for people with disabilities — in order to fuel business growth and build a future of better work for all.

1. Promote skills-based hiring

With skills-based hiring, job applicants are assessed based on their competency, abilities and proven performance, not just degrees. This approach not only offers opportunities for a number of qualified workers who need jobs but it also provides employers with a much wider pool of eager, trainable talent with transferable skills and backgrounds.

For example, an experienced barista with a welcoming personality and an entrepreneurial spirit, but no university degree, might have most of the necessary skills needed for a corporate sales role. Unfortunately, many screening systems wouldn’t flag this type of job seeker as a top candidate. Why are we starving our organizations of capable workers, especially when it remains difficult to fill positions? With a skills-based hiring approach, we can change that.

2. Support workplace accessibility

As activist Keely Cat-Wells said at a recent Indeed-hosted lunch and learn, disability is part of the human experience: 1 in 5 Canadians 25–64 years old had a disability in 2017. Many will experience a temporary or long-term disability at some point, or know or care for someone who does. In the United States, across all ages and education levels, people with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than their peers.

Expanding accessibility in the workplace and to employment uncovers a rich source of highly skilled and largely untapped talent that most businesses are overlooking. With technological advancements, as well as changing societal norms and workplace expectations, this is more easily accomplished than ever before. 

The pandemic revealed that people can work from home and be fully participating team members, increasing acceptance for remote and hybrid work policies. Meanwhile, new technologies, such as automatic transcripts and closed captioning on video conferencing platforms, are addressing the workplace needs of those with sight and hearing challenges. In addition, application designers and web developers are increasingly delivering products that are fully accessible to screen readers and allow alt text.

By reframing our approach and rethinking what’s possible, we can cast a wider net and expand our talent pool — making the labour market more accessible, one job at a time.

The Future of Better Work Starts With Us

In this moment, everyone has a unique opportunity to rebuild a world where work is equitable, job seekers facing barriers can find better work and everyone has equal opportunity to find jobs they love. That’s why, at Indeed, we’re committed to helping 30 million people globally who face employment barriers find jobs by the year 2030. 

But we can’t do it alone. 

Join us in rebuilding the future of work by tapping into untapped talent. Together, we can break down bias and barriers to employment and pave the way for a more equitable world of work.