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MA cuts college degree requirements for 90% of state jobs
Campus Reform ^ | February 2, 2024 | Austin Browne

Posted on 02/04/2024 4:34:33 PM PST by george76

Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled 'Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,' to 'reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment.'

Some Massachusetts leaders praised the move as important for establishing an 'inclusive' workforce.

...

Massachusetts will no longer require a college degree for a large majority of government jobs due to a new state executive order intended to make the commonwealth more “inclusive.”

Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled “Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,” on Jan 25. The document asserts that “skills-based hiring practices will strengthen the Commonwealth’s workforce, increase access to quality jobs for nontraditional candidates with varied backgrounds and work experiences, and reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment.”

...

It also contends that such practices will build a “workforce that is representative of the diversity of the state.”

The guideline directs hiring managers to “consider the full set of competencies that candidates bring to the job beyond traditional education.”

It prohibits a minimum level of education from being included in job listings “unless the Human Resources Division determines that a particular level of education is necessary to perform the job after completing a job analysis.”

Candidates will now be assessed based on “their skills from real-world experience, military service, apprenticeship and certificate programs, internships, and other on-the-job programs.”

“This Executive Order directs our administration to focus on applicants’ skills and experiences, rather than college credentials,” Healey said in an address announcing the new guidelines. “It will expand our applicant pool and help us build a more inclusive and skilled workforce than ever before.”

Several state labor and education leaders issued statements in support of the order.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President and CEO Chrissy Lynch applauded the governor for what she called an “inclusive workforce strategy.”

Western New England University President Robert Johnson stated that the order will help in “breaking down unnecessary barriers and creating equal opportunities” and will build “a more inclusive workforce.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; chat; college; collegedegree; degree; massachusetts
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1 posted on 02/04/2024 4:34:33 PM PST by george76
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To: george76

On one hand this looks positive. But I can also see where this could go very, very wrong.


2 posted on 02/04/2024 4:35:39 PM PST by rbg81
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To: george76

This is actually a good thing.

Young people have been paying a “stupid tax” by borrowing money for college when they do not belong there.

Now they can become incompetent and useless state workers without getting in debt to do so.

;-)


3 posted on 02/04/2024 4:36:33 PM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: george76

Illegals and the unqualified will benefit


4 posted on 02/04/2024 4:37:53 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: george76

So, figure 5-10 years the state will be flooded with many more incompetent managers than they already have—promoted rather than fired.


5 posted on 02/04/2024 4:40:47 PM PST by Reno89519 (Biden, Democrats, and Some Republicans may have surrendered, but I have not. Defend America!)
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To: george76

About time, most jobs don’t require a degree and most Bachelors can be replaced with industry tests.


6 posted on 02/04/2024 4:44:20 PM PST by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
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To: george76

Stupid is as stupid does!

Under “gay” Maura Healey, Massachusetts—once one of the most educated states in the Union—will now lead the country in incompetence and stupidity!


7 posted on 02/04/2024 4:44:21 PM PST by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: george76

Mass. is on the path to DIE.


8 posted on 02/04/2024 4:45:23 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: cgbg

Absolutely correct. Unless you’re going into a hard science, college is a complete waste.


9 posted on 02/04/2024 4:48:20 PM PST by cyclotic (Don’t be part of the problem. Be the entire problem)
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To: george76

I'm thinking the gov't response to Covid, except the gov't officials responsible for the fiasco won't be required to have degrees.

This might not be a bad idea in the private sector, but how do you fire civil servants who can't or won't do their jobs?

10 posted on 02/04/2024 4:54:37 PM PST by Sooth2222 (“Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.” /"Every nation has the government it deserves.” )
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To: george76

A LOT of government jobs don’t require college degrees, IMO. It would be good to get back to the basics of ‘service,’ and correspondingly less costly salaries for the majority of drone workers.

However, that won’t happen because MA is not looking for efficiency; they are looking for more jobs for blacks, Hispanics and other peoples of color. It’s just another more subtle form of quotas, affirmative action and the hip, new replacement - DEI.


11 posted on 02/04/2024 4:55:37 PM PST by Gaffer
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To: george76

More DEI BS....So, Mass state gov’t won’t have the best & brightest. Not even close.


12 posted on 02/04/2024 5:01:06 PM PST by citizen (Put all LBQTwhatever programming on a new subscription service: PERV-TThose look good)
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To: george76

If you go to college and don’t get a certification or license as a result, you probably wasted your money.


13 posted on 02/04/2024 5:01:22 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (We used to be a Republic, we are now a Fascist Klepto-Thugocracy.)
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To: taxcontrol
About time, most jobs don’t require a degree and most Bachelors can be replaced with industry tests.

Yes, but this is Massachusetts we're talking about. The degree won't be replaced with industry tests. It will be replaced with party cards and political tests. The democrats are restoring an unrestricted spoils system.

Except that unlike the spoils systems of olden days, the new hires will be tenured. Massachusetts will end up with civil service job protections without civil service entry requirements. When they eventually remember why the civil service system was instituted in the first place, it will be too late. The hacks can't be fired.

14 posted on 02/04/2024 5:02:02 PM PST by sphinx
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To: george76

That almost guarantees that the new hires will be far more intelligent...


15 posted on 02/04/2024 5:03:19 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperately need him)
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To: george76

I don’t mind reducing the college degree requirement for those with the needed skill set, particularly for tech and complex skill jobs but to reduce it for inclusion sake, no way. Let United hire them as pilots. I understand they are looking for flight dummies for their rainbow cockpit coalition.


16 posted on 02/04/2024 5:17:47 PM PST by chuckee
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To: george76

“Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled ‘Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,’ to ‘reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment.’”

Go mow a lawn Healey,


17 posted on 02/04/2024 5:18:29 PM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: cyclotic
When you realize that Massachusetts state troopers are getting paid more than $400,000 per year, and they'll get a pension that is a significant portion of that amount when they retire, you realize that doing all the hard work in college to become something like a heart surgeon is a waste of effort.

Much easier to rack up the overtime on details watching some guys dig a trench with a coffee in your hand.

18 posted on 02/04/2024 5:19:53 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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To: george76
From the article: Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled 'Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,' to 'reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment.'

It's not about "inequities" or any nonsense as that. The truth is that governments are not competitive in the talent market.

Government can get two types of employees to fill these positions; recent college graduates who need a job out of college and will move on in two or three years, or those who are willing to work a few more years after retiring from private industry.

The government doesn't want to pay pensions so in addition to encouraging turnover, for decades they've been outsourcing work previously done by government employees.

This is just the next step in such decline where they'll fill the ranks with even lesser qualified, including illegal aliens who have no diplomas or degrees.

19 posted on 02/04/2024 5:20:55 PM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: taxcontrol

You don’t need a degree to give drivers license tests or sign people up for gubmint cheese. Local government jobs require higher skills but the only requirement is to win an election.


20 posted on 02/04/2024 5:22:08 PM PST by bigbob
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