Dewine Expands State of Ohio's Skill-based Hiring Practices

Ohio Governor Mike Dewine today signed an executive order which builds upon Ohio’s nation-leading efforts to be a model employer in skillbased hiring practices. The skill-based hiring movement focuses on specific coursework, skills, experience, and training and de-emphasizes previous qualification requirements that were stated in terms of academic degrees.

“The State of Ohio has been at the forefront of recognizing the importance of hiring a diverse workforce based upon the skills they bring to an employer,” said Ohio Governor Mike Dewine. “Today’s Executive Order furthers Ohio’s nationwide-leading work with unique initiatives to further our efforts to recruit the best talent regardless of academic degree.”

“Focusing on skills and abilities rather than degrees allows employers to prioritize what really matters for job performance,” said Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation. “By shifting the emphasis to specific skills and competencies relevant to the role, employers can identify candidates who possess the necessary capabilities, regardless of their educational background.”

Ohio was one of the first and leading states to enact administrative rules establishing skillsbased hiring practices: Ohio Administrative Code 123:1-07-04. Today’s Executive Order (No. 202310D) adds three additional initiatives to this effort:

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services (DAS) will designate a coordinator to work with Career-technical Education programs to identify and recruit program graduates for vacant positions with the State;

DAS will also conduct a comprehensive review of all classifications where an academic degree is required by statute to identify where job modernization could be accomplished through amendments to statute; and

DAS will formalize and enhance its policy on skill-based hiring, adding components including a job matching tool on application portals; ensuring agency, board, and commission compliance with the administrative rule; and reviewing current minimum qualifications which are position specific or preferred in hiring practices to ensure they are not stated in terms of academic degrees

Governor Dewine also ordered that a report on these reviews be provided within 180 days.