SPRINGFIELD — Nearly a year after Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order instituting skills-based hiring practices for the state’s workforce, City Councilor Jose Delgado is hoping a similar ordinance can be implemented in Springfield to promote equity and inclusion in its municipal jobs.
While college degree and licensure requirements are important prerequisites for certain fields, like law or medicine, Delgado argues that only requiring a bachelor’s degree for other jobs in the city limits the application pool because it shuts out those that may not be able to afford a degree, even if they have relevant prior work experience.
During the General Government Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 24, Delgado introduced the first draft of a skills-based hiring ordinance that would require the city to review an applicant’s resume more comprehensively by looking at their background experience, any relevant skills or additional knowledge they may have.
In a time when City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti noted in a late-2024 City Council meeting that the city is having trouble attracting qualified people to fill positions, Delgado believes that this ordinance would not only expand access and opportunities for those seeking to work for the city, but it would also support the city’s retention and workforce development goals.
“A lot of times, historically marginalized or underrepresented groups sometimes don’t have degrees,” Delgado said. And so, [this ordinance] helps folks who might not be afforded a degree today to be able to show what they can do through their already previous work experience.”
The ordinance reflects Healey’s executive order that she signed in January 2024, which requires her administration to focus primarily on applicants’ skills, knowledge, and abilities rather than educational credentials when it comes time to hire for state jobs.
According to the order, job postings will only be allowed to include degree conditions when “absolutely necessary” to the performance of the job.
“As the state’s largest employer, we rely on a strong, diverse workforce to deliver crucial services and programs for Massachusetts residents, businesses and communities every day. But too many job applicants are being held back by unnecessary degree requirements,” Healey said at the time. “This executive order directs our administration to focus on applicants’ skills and experiences, rather than college credentials. It will expand our applicant pool and help us build a more inclusive and skilled workforce than ever before.”
Many Springfield department heads attended the General Government Subcommittee to listen in or provide feedback on how hiring looks on their end. Bill Mahoney, the director of Human Resources and Labor Relations for the city, highlighted how the city is already practicing skills based hiring technicians for many of its municipal jobs.
He told the General Government Subcommittee that around 60% of the city’s municipal job classifications, excluding schools, do not require a degree. Of the jobs that do require a degree, Mahoney said the city allows applicants to substitute experience for a degree requirement in 24% of those jobs.
He added that the city has 751 public safety jobs that do not require anything beyond a high school diploma or GED.
“We’ve kind of achieved what the thrust of this ordinance is,” Mahoney said during the meeting.
The subcommittee appeared receptive to the ordinance, but they ultimately decided that some language needed to be tweaked before they could send a recommendation to the full City Council.
Particularly, Mahoney expressed concern about language on the second page of the ordinance that stated changes to job descriptions would be subject to approval of the Human Resources department and the City Council.
Mahoney argued that a change of a job description should be an executive decision and not a function of the council.
Delgado said he was willing to iron out the language but stood firm in his desire to maintain the intent of the ordinance.
“I’m not saying that a degree doesn’t matter,” Delgado said. “What I’m saying is we should be mindful of making sure that we’re not setting artificial barriers for folks who might have the experience to be able to work.”
City Councilor Tracye Whitfield, a member of the General Government Subcommittee, agreed with Delgado’s sentiments by reaffirming the need to offer applicants a greater opportunity to land a job through the practice of skills-based hiring.
She said she is interested in further pursuing this ordinance.
“I’ve seen people come in with a degree that have no experience,” Whitfield said. “And then you have people … that you’re limiting from applying that may have the experience, but they’re not going to apply because they don’t have the degree because it says degree required.”
City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce also spoke in favor of the ordinance during the General Government meeting, saying that he appreciates the hard work people put into their pursuit of a degree, but he emphasized how there are many people who do not have the luxury of going to school.
“I think the City Council is doing a great job of looking at this and making sure residents here have an opportunity to at least get their foot in the door and make us all proud,” Click-Bruce said.
City Councilor Victor Davila, the chair of the General Government Subcommittee, said the subcommittee will likely have another meeting about the ordinance once exact language is resolved.
“I think if we put our minds together on this, we can come up with some motion,” he said.
