Top 10: Skills-First Companies

The reliance on academic degrees as the only measure of talent is becoming outdated for many fast-moving industries. 

Many leading organisations are instead turning their focus to candidate skills – looking at the ability to adapt and demonstrate the requirements for the role – finding that relevant experience and the ability to learn continuously being a better predictor of success. 

Below, we look at the companies building talent acquisition strategies to best hire skilled workers, developing a broader pool of candidates and supporting a future-ready, adaptable workforce.

10. Delta Air Lines

Chief People Officer: Allison Ausband

Revenue: US$63.4bn

Location: Georgia, US

The journey to becoming a qualified pilot can be highly challenging and requires significant financial investment – but Delta Air Lines is taking steps to make that process more accessible.

The company has made waves by removing degree requirements for its pilots, focusing instead on skills-based hiring, with Delta saying this removes an unintentional barrier to a career as a pilot.  

It has also developed a pilot career programme called Propel, which identifies high-potential internal candidates and provides them with the specific technical training needed for the flight deck.

9. IBM

CHRO: Nickle LaMoreaux

Revenue: US$67.54bn

Location: New York, US

As Chief Human Resources Officer of IBM, Nickle LaMoreaux has overseen the removal of degree requirements for around half of the company’s US job openings.

Instead of looking at degrees, the company focuses on demonstrating key competencies and the ability to learn – helping IBM access a broader and more diverse talent pool. 

The company also offers ‘New Collar’ apprenticeships – earn-and-learn programmes in areas such as cybersecurity and data analysis. Designed for people going through career changes, these apprenticeship programmes allow participants to work on real projects and receive mentoring, with the opportunity for a permanent position upon completion. 

8. Caterpillar

CHRO: Christy Pambianchi

Revenue: US$67.6bn

Location: Texas, US

Caterpillar is making significant investments in skills development, announcing in April 2025 that it was pledging US4100m over the next five years to equip the future workforce with skills needed to meet market demands. 

This builds upon the company’s work to close manufacturing skills gaps – with it developing initiatives such as ThinkBIG, a two year programme that pays students as they train to become technicians and a STEM outreach programme designed to expose K-12 students to different careers in manufacturing. 

When hiring, the company focuses on capabilities and technical expertise over traditional credentials, which can help prepare the future workforce and close talent gaps. 

7. Accenture

CHRO: Kate Clifford

Revenue: US$69.67bn

Location: Dublin, Ireland

In order to better facilitate skills-first hiring and close talent gaps, Accenture has developed apprenticeship programmes in areas such as technology and consulting. 

With 20% of the company’s entry-level hires coming from these programmes in recent years, Accenture describes them as a “critical part” of its talent strategy. 

When hiring, the company typically prioritises a candidate's ability to learn and their technical skills, with Accenture investing significantly in learning opportunities for existing employees to encourage internal mobility. 

The company has invested US$1bn in its LearnVantage platform, which uses AI recommendation engines to map their current skills against the skills they will need to develop in order to progress – creating personalised learning journeys. 

6. Target

CHRO: Melissa Kremer

Revenue: US$104.8bn

Location: Minnesota, US

Target has stripped away degree requirements for most of its middle-management and corporate positions – giving candidates with relevant skills opportunities to hold roles that would have previously only gone to college graduates. 

The company also provides a debt-free education assistance benefit through its ‘Dream to Be’ programme. Developed under CHRO Melissa Kremer, this initiative gives US team members free tuition – helping workers develop and identify new skills to help them move into corporate roles and creating an internal talent pipeline for the company. 

5. Bank of America

Chief People Officer: Sheri Bronstein

Revenue: US$113.1bn

Location: North Carolina, US

In an industry that typically relies on degrees and traditional credentials when hiring, Bank of America stands out as an organisation committed to skills-first hiring. 

Under Chief People Officer Sheri Bronstein, the bank has committed to hiring 10,000 individuals with military backgrounds and 8,000 new hires from community colleges over the next five years.

The company has already hired more than 20,000 veterans and individuals with military backgrounds since 2015, and provides key programmes to help these individuals transfer their skills into a corporate environment. 

This includes a dedicated veteran onboarding programme that partners military hires with a mentor to help ease them into civilian life, and a Military Support and Assistance Group. 

4. Dell Technologies

CHRO: Jennifer Saavedra

Revenue: US$113.5bn

Location: Texas, US

When hiring, Dell uses a skills-first model, which is designed to expand its talent pool and reduce hiring bias as it looks to maintain its agility as a company. 

Interviews can often focus on soft skills, and the company has developed several apprenticeships and reskilling programmes – such as its ReStart initiative, designed for workers who have been away from the workforce for at least 12 months and have at least five years of experience. 

Through ReStart, the company has developed a 16-week paid returnship programme that provides training and support for those transitioning back into the workforce, and a direct hire programme, which welcomes participants into full-time, benefited positions through a structured programme to accelerate their return to the workforce. 

3. General Motors

Chief People Officer: Arden Hoffman

Revenue: US$185.02bn

Location: Michigan, US

As General Motors increases its focus on EV production, the company has redefined its talent acquisition strategy to attract and retain talent that can lead this shift. 

The company focuses on specific, demonstrable skills in its hiring process, using competency based assessments that test skills like leadership, integrity and safety awareness. 

General Motors has also been reskilling its internal workforce to ensure employees are prepared and suitably upskilled for the EV shift – with the company having invested US$500m in US manufacturing apprenticeships and upskilling programmes over the past five years. 

2. Microsoft

Chief People Officer: Amy Coleman

Revenue: US$281.7bn

Location: Washington, US

Skills development is a key priority for Microsoft. The company has built an environment of continuous learning over the years, which comes all the way from the top – with CEO Satya Nadella encouraging a ‘learn it all’ culture for employees. 

Chief People Officer Amy Coleman has developed a hiring strategy that looks for adaptability in its talent, rather than those who have specialised in a specific field, with the ability to relearn and upskill becoming more important in modern tech workforces. 

The company uses AI in its hiring process to help recruiters infer from candidate CVS the specific skills and attributes it is looking for, and interviewers are encouraged to look for traits such as collaboration and the ability to adapt during the hiring process. 

1. Alphabet

Chief People Officer: Fiona Cicconi

Revenue: US$402.8bn

Location: California, US

When hiring, Alphabet has developed a highly structured and data-driven approach that focuses on four key attributes: general cognitive ability, leadership, role-related knowledge and ‘Googleyness,’ or cultural fit.

The company assesses these skills through a standardised interview process to reduce bias in hiring, helping it hire non-traditional candidates, with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin saying the company now hires “tonnes” of people without Bachelor’s degrees. 

Fiona Cicconi, Chief People Officer of Alphabet, has furthered the company’s commitment to skills-first hiring through its Career Certificates programme – flexible, online professional training designed to equip learners with job-ready skills in high-growth fields like IT support, data analytics and project management.Ftar