Practicing What We Preach: Virginia’s Approach to Skills-Based

In 2023, Virginia took a major step toward skills-based hiring by removing degree requirements and preferences for nearly 90% of classified state jobs. But policy alone did not change hiring behavior.

Join leaders from Virginia Works and Virginia Department of Human Resource Management for a candid conversation about what it actually took to move from executive order to implementation across state government.

This session will explore how the Commonwealth connected workforce systems to state hiring, used apprenticeship as a scalable talent strategy, supported agency HR teams through change, and created stronger pathways into public sector careers.

‍Attendees will leave with practical insights they can apply inside their own organizations, including:

• How to align HR policy, workforce systems, and hiring practices to drive real operational change
• What helped hiring managers and agency leaders adopt skills-based practices across government
• Ways to use existing infrastructure, communications channels, and workforce programs to scale implementation faster
• How Virginia responded to federal workforce disruptions by creating clearer pathways into state employment

This session is also an opportunity to go deep with two public sector leaders who have led this work firsthand. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions, hear what worked and what did not, and better understand the operational realities of implementing skills-based hiring across government systems.

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