What’s happening?
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced an initiative on Tuesday that would ax the requirement for a four-year degree for thousands of state jobs. The initiative was developed alongside a D.C.-based nonprofit that focuses on workers who are “skilled through alternative routes.”
What types of jobs are now open to people without degrees?
Currently, the initiative will seek people skilled in IT, administrative work, and customer service. Gov. Hogan hopes they will be an “untapped pool for employers” that will create a “potential long-term solution” to staff shortages caused by the pandemic and skills gap.
He foresees more than half of the 38,000 jobs at the Department of Budget and Management going to these now-eligible candidates, dubbed STARS.
Anything else I should know?
According to Gov. Hogan, Maryland is the first state to formally cut the four-year degree requirement for state jobs.
You can read more here.
