Ahead of the midterm elections, Opportunity@Work releases new resources: a Policy Playbook with model policy language, implementation guidance, and real-world examples, to help policymakers put skills-based policy into action, alongside new Reach for the STARs research examining AI’s impact on workers and job mobility

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Opportunity@Work, a national nonprofit working to build a skills-first labor market and unlock opportunity for the 75+ million U.S. workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) rather than through a bachelor’s degree, released Building an AI-Ready Workforce: A Policy Playbook for a Skills-Based Labor Market, a new resource designed to help public-sector leaders turn a skills-based policy agenda into action. The Playbook provides policymakers with concrete policy pathways, model language, and implementation tools to build a labor market that values workers for their skills rather than credentials alone — a rare bipartisan policy area that has drawn support across the political spectrum.

The Playbook arrives at a pivotal moment: this November, voters in 36 states will elect governors, while communities nationwide will choose state and local leaders charged with strengthening public workforces and building more competitive, resilient economies amid rapid technological and economic change. Designed to help those leaders move from commitment to implementation, the Playbook provides ready-to-adapt model executive orders, administrative actions, and legislation, along with case studies, best practices, and practical guidance for putting skills-based policies into practice and sustaining them over time.

They will have a strong foundation to build on. More than 30 states across the political spectrum — from Alabama and Alaska to Vermont and Virginia — have already taken action to remove unnecessary degree requirements and prioritize skills. In 19 of those states, governors played a major role by advancing the shift to skills-based hiring through executive orders — including Maryland, which in 2022 became the first state to partner with Opportunity@Work to “Tear the Paper Ceiling.”

And the Playbook goes well beyond governors. It is a practical resource for policymakers, agency and department leaders, policy staff, and advocates working at the state and local levels. It helps them turn skills-based goals into action, from shaping policy and building implementation infrastructure to aligning stakeholders and using data to measure what works.

“When it comes to progress on skills-based hiring, the public sector has led the way,” said Blair Corcoran de Castillo, Senior Vice President, Public Sector & Policy at Opportunity@Work. “Opportunity@Work is working alongside states and bringing public-sector leaders together to learn from one another and scale what works. As AI reshapes jobs — and the skills required to perform them — this work is only becoming more urgent. Smart policy can help governments build talent systems that recognize the skills of millions of U.S. workers, including those skilled through alternative routes (STARs), strengthen government performance, and expand access to good jobs.”

The Policy Playbook brings together research, policy expertise, and lessons from skills-based reforms across the country to give policymakers an actionable roadmap for building a skills-based labor market. It pairs the case for change with concrete policy options, model language, and practical guidance for adoption and implementation. It is informed by Opportunity@Work’s growing body of research on STARs, skills-based hiring, economic mobility, and the future of work, including the newly updated Reach for the STARs report, which re-examines the organization’s landmark 2020 research for an AI-driven labor market and demonstrates why skills-based systems matter even more as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes jobs, hiring, and workforce needs.

The report finds that of the 151.9 million active workers in the U.S., over 75 million, or 50%, are STARs — workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes rather than through a bachelor’s degree. They have a high school diploma or its equivalent, and have built skills outside of a four-year bachelor’s degree. STARs gain skills through military service, community college, certificate programs and bootcamps, apprenticeships, on-the-job experience, and through other alternative routes.

The original research established that skills are built through the tasks workers perform on the job. Six years later, that finding carries new urgency: as AI transforms which tasks exist and how they’re performed, it could just as easily eliminate the on-the-job pathways workers rely on to build skills and advance — reinforcing the very disparities the Playbook aims to close.

“We have built a labor market that overlooks what millions of workers can do — barriers that stop talent from flowing to where it is needed, and workers and employers pay the price,” said Justin Heck, Senior Director, Research & Data Production at Opportunity@Work. “As AI changes the jobs workers do, the skills they build, and the pathways that connect one role to the next, we must double down on building a labor market that recognizes workers’ skills regardless of where they learned them.”

Analyzing more than 190 million job transitions over the past decade, Opportunity@Work found that skill similarity is a key driver of how workers move up. Intentional job design will be critical to ensuring AI expands rather than constrains those pathways.

There is evidence that deliberate action can change the trajectory. A two-decade slide in STARs’ access to advancement has begun to reverse: there are now 783,000 more STARs in well-paid roles than the 2020 trajectory would have predicted. Employers and states have taken steps to remove degree requirements and prioritize demonstrated skills, while collective efforts like the 100-member Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign have helped catalyze change. Today, 77% of employers say they are more likely to hire STARs than three to five years ago.

To learn more about the Policy Playbook or the new Reach for the STARs data, contact Rena Ramirez, rena@opportunityatwork.org.

About Opportunity@Work

Opportunity@Work is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social enterprise on a mission to rewire the labor market so all Americans can work, learn, and earn to their full potential. Our work advances economic opportunities for the 75+ million U.S. workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of through a bachelor’s degree. Opportunity@Work engages with corporate, public sector, talent technology, and philanthropic partners through landmark research and labor market data analysis, public awareness and narrative change, STARs-centric software tools, and multi-sector networks. Our goal is to enable upward mobility for 1 million STARs by opening up 10 million jobs and to boost their earnings by $100 billion by 2035. Learn more at www.opportunityatwork.org.

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