Tear
the Paper Ceiling
Skills-first hiring opens untapped talent pools, delivers more successful hires, and heals a broken labor market.
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There’s a flaw in the labor market
70 million STARs - workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes - are held back simply because they earned their skills outside of a bachelor’s degree. Meanwhile, employers struggle to prepare for jobs of the future and find the right fit for open roles.
The paper ceiling separates both sides from finding each other.
The solution is not easy, but it is simple: focus on the skills people have rather than where they got them. Hiring managers and recruiters who start with skills will find candidates others simply overlook.
In fact, they're 60% more likely to find a successful hire.1
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Glimpse beyond the paper ceiling
Get inspired by stories of STARs and companies tearing the paper ceiling, then create a custom story card to share your own story on social media. Every story matters, especially yours.
Explore resources for STARs
Discover job search tools, find skill-building programs, or browse our library of support resources to help advance your career.
Explore resources for companies
Download skills-first hiring guides, find data on STARs in your area, and browse our library of support resources to help you begin tearing the paper ceiling.
Researchers
There’s a growing body of research about workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs), but much more is needed. The STARs research community includes scholars across economics, public policy, data science, and organizational behavior who are studying questions to help understand impediments to—and opportunities for—STARs’ wage mobility.
Philanthropies
More than half the workforce is being left behind. Improving economic mobility for workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) can also advance efforts to reduce poverty, improve education, and address other systemic issues. Learn how Opportunity@Work is making tangible impact.
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Support the campaign
Opportunity@Work is a 501c3 nonprofit on a mission to re-wire the U.S. labor market so all STARs can work, learn, and earn to their full potential. Opportunity@Work leads the Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign -- your financial support helps us bring the message, the facts, and inspiring stories of STARs to more people across the country. Together we can shift the national conversation around skills.