[Added 6-10-2025]
WHEREAS, to fill jobs and recruit the skilled workforce they need, employers must open opportunities to nontraditional candidates, find and develop untapped talent, acknowledge the importance of practical work experience, and eliminate unnecessary degree requirements that discourage qualified applicants; and
WHEREAS, many Springfield residents are ready, willing, and able to succeed in the jobs of the future based on their skills from real-world work experience, military service, apprenticeships, certificate programs, internships, and other on-the-job learning; and
WHEREAS, the City of Springfield is committed to exploring access to skill development opportunities-including through training partnerships, apprenticeship programs, early college, innovation and career pathways, and community colleges-that meet the workforce needs of the City and support long-lasting, family sustaining careers;
WHEREAS, as one of the largest employers in the region, the City of Springfield must continue to lead by example in its hiring practices and policies, and enhance its own recruitment and retention efforts for City employees; and
WHEREAS, the City's workforce should be as talented, diverse, capable, and resilient as the people it serves; and
WHEREAS, skills-based hiring practices will support efforts to continue to build a robust City workforce that is representative of the diversity of the city, and that has the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences to address the challenges of today and tomorrow.
A. 
Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to strongly encourage and all City Departments to prioritize and utilize skills-based employment practices in their efforts to attract, recruit, hire, retain, and develop the careers of talented employees wherever possible and allowed under the law. In making hiring decisions, appointing authorities are strongly encouraged to consider the full set of competencies that candidates bring to the job in addition to traditional education. Appointing authorities are strongly encouraged to align job requirements and positions prerequisites with the skills needed to accomplish a position's job duties.
B. 
Job classifications issued or updated after the effective date of this article shall not specify a minimum level of education as an eligibility or threshold requirement for a job classification, unless approved by the Director of Personnel or the Director of Labor Relations, who shall determine that a particular level of education is necessary to perform the job after completing a job analysis. In appropriate instances, years of relevant experience and or certifications may be substituted for a required degree.
The Personnel Department and Labor Relations Department are authorized to develop and promulgate a written policy on skills-based hiring practices consistent with the terms of this article, and provide said policy to all departments upon its completion.
The Personnel Department and Labor Relations Department are authorized to develop a training course on skills-based hiring at the direction of the Mayor, and to make said training course available to all department hiring managers and appointing authorities, to be updated by the Personnel Department and Labor Relations Department at appropriate intervals.
The Personnel Department and Labor Relations Department, with guidance by the state's Human Resources Department and Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, is authorized to share resources to assist Springfield employers in adopting skills-based hiring practices as a strategy for addressing workforce challenges and attracting and retaining talented employees.