Preface
This is the second chapter in a three-part series inspired by Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent, a report recently published by Harvard Business School and Accenture. For an introduction and background, visit Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Workmorphis Hidden Worker Series.
Chapter 2 shines a light on hidden workers, an estimated 27 million people in the United States who are looking for jobs but remain “hidden” from companies. We offer a summary of the hidden worker phenomenon, causes, and recommendations by combining insights from the latest reports and studies. This chapter also includes commentary by the Workmorphis team, whose experience working across sectors to engage and serve populations of hidden workers is extensive.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 consists of three parts, including:
- The War for Talent
- Who Are “Hidden Workers” and Why Can’t Employers Find Them?
- The Business Case for Hiring Hidden Workers
Use the table of contents above to navigate through the series and learn about the hidden worker phenomenon, causes, and recommendations employers can act upon today.
The War for Talent Summary
So far, we have discussed demographic trends that are fueling the war for talent. At the same time, there are an estimated 27 million “hidden workers” in the U.S. who are eager to get a job or increase their hours. By understanding the demographic trends that are accelerating workforce issues and learning how to engage hidden workers, employers can continue to grow and innovate through these changes. So, who are “hidden workers?”
Part II — Who are “Hidden Workers?”
“Hidden workers,” a term coined by the authors of Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent, refers to a diverse group of people who are excluded from consideration for employment by many employers. Many such workers want to work and are actively seeking work but have had little or no success finding employment.
Members of this hidden workforce come from all backgrounds, including veterans, caregivers, people with disabilities, and people with a criminal record, to name a few. Although hidden workers come from a broad variety of backgrounds and skill levels, they all share the common experience of struggling to find work, but not for the reasons some might expect.
Why Can’t Employers Find Hidden Workers?
Individual experiences of such a diverse group of people vary greatly. Some hidden workers may have a multi-year employment gap due to caregiving responsibilities, while others have trouble translating skills learned in the military to “civilian” skills on a résumé. Regardless, these workers all share the experience of being hidden from consideration by employers, which has proven equally challenging before and during the pandemic.
Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent uses three categories to describe hidden workers:
- Workers who are “missing hours” (63%) — individuals who are working one or more part-time jobs but are willing and able to work full-time
- Workers who are “missing from the workforce” (33%) — individuals who have been unemployed for a long time but are still seeking employment
- Workers who are “missing from work” (4%) — individuals who are not working and not seeking employment but are willing and able to work under the right circumstances
In labor market terminology, these categories most closely align with “underemployed” (missing hours), “unemployed” (missing from the workforce), and “long-term unemployed” (missing from work).
Three main forces are preventing employers from finding hidden workers:
1. Widening Training Gaps
Training gaps are widening. Workplace technologies are evolving faster than education and training, which has led many employers to offer in-house training. This means it has become even more difficult for hidden workers to learn relevant skills if they are not currently employed. Employers are also struggling to build efficient and cost-effective training programs for new and prospective employees.
Workmorphis’ Recommendation: Leverage funding and programs offered by American Job Centers and innovative public-private partnerships to provide upskilling and reskilling for current and future employees.
Workmorphis offers workforce skills transformation services to help employers identify skills needs and maximize available partnerships and resources to provide upskilling and reskilling.
2. Inflexible Applicant Tracking Systems
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are inflexibly configured. More than 90 percent of employers surveyed use these systems, such as Taleo and Workday, to initially filter or rank potential middle- and high-skills candidates. However, these systems are designed to filter people out if they do not meet certain criteria (such as a gap in full-time employment), which automatically excludes them from consideration. Qualified candidates are often excluded because they do not meet the exact criteria in the job description.
Hidden Workers study recommendation: Reform the approach to talent acquisition by re-engineering parameters so they no longer exclude qualified candidates from consideration. Employers can start by fixing the process for composing job descriptions by supplying a clear summary of the must-have skills that are needed rather than preferred.
Workmorphis’ Recommendation: Use skills- and competency-based hiring methods to modernize job postings and attract more qualified candidates from a variety of backgrounds.
Workmorphis provides diversified workforce pipeline strategies such as skills-based hiring and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices to help companies attract more diverse talent through their hiring processes.
3. Difficulty Recognizing the Business Case
The business case is not widely recognized. Companies hiring hidden workers often do so through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Although this is a good first step, it can reinforce stereotypes and negative beliefs by other employees, and it overlooks the value of hidden workers in creating a competitive advantage.
Hidden Workers study recommendation: Shift the justification from CSR to ROI (return on investment) to acknowledge the financial and other benefits of hiring hidden workers and avoid undermining the legitimacy of their employment in the eyes of these hidden workers and their colleagues.
Workmorphis’ Recommendation: Contact local chambers of commerce or industry associations to identify and learn from companies that have successfully hired hidden workers. Some industry groups provide their own guidance, such as the Manufacturing Institute’s The Case for Second Chance Hiring.
Workmorphis provides access to community partnership services, and when coupled with diversified workforce pipeline strategies such as skills-based hiring and DEI practices, companies are empowered to attract more diverse talent.
Exclusion Parameters
Some employers intentionally set parameters to exclude certain people. For example, many employers exclude people with a criminal history from consideration. Workmorphis strongly believes in the business case for hiring people who were formerly incarcerated. More on this topic in future posts.
According to Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent, 48 percent of employers filtered middle-skills candidates based on employment gaps of more than six months, believing applicants with more recent experience are more likely to have better professional skills.
However, this exclusionary process does not consider the cause of the gaps. For example, candidates who left the workforce for more than six months for reasons such as a difficult pregnancy, the illness of a spouse, health needs, relocation due to a new posting of a military spouse, and so on, are eliminated from consideration.
The “filter out” method is often used by employers to save time but has unintended consequences for diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, filtering out applicants with employment gaps may exclude parents and caregivers (disproportionately women) seeking to re-enter the workforce and put their skills to use. Filtering out applicants without a four-year degree (disproportionately people of color), may exclude people with technical training whose skills are specialized and may be better suited to the company’s needs.
Hidden Workers study recommendation: Shift from “negative” to “affirmative” filters by creating skills-based filters that seek specific types of experiences and attributes, rather than credentials or years of experience in the workplace.
Establish new metrics for evaluating talent acquisition by rewarding human asset maximization (fit for job) instead of expense minimization (cost per hire).
Focus on customer experience in recruiting by redesigning the application process to make it easier to use and ensuring that job requirements are clear.
Workmorphis’ Recommendation: Start by evaluating current job postings and hiring practices thoroughly to determine which filters, job requirements, and other factors may prevent you from connecting with hidden workers today.
Workmorphis provides compaies with skills-based hiring and DEI practices through the creation of diversified workforce pipeline strategies to help companies attract more diverse talent through their hiring processes.
Up Next: The Business Case for Hiring Hidden Workers
Hiring hidden workers is not charity or corporate social responsibility, it is good business strategy. In the next post, we will address common beliefs employers share about hidden workers and examine the business case for hiring them.
About Workmorphis
Workmorphis provides a full suite of services to help organizations across the U.S. revitalize their workforce, including workforce planning strategies, skills transformation, diversified workforce pipeline strategies, employee support and empowerment, and more.
Connect with us to offer your insights or learn how we can help you transform your workforce.
Meet the Author
Emily Fabiano is the founder of Workmorphis, a cross-sector workforce consultancy helping organizations build a more resilient workforce to thrive in a changing economy. Fabiano has deep experience in workforce transformation at the government level, working at the cross section of workforce strategy, economic development, and public policy. With a keen understanding of the unique challenges facing today’s and tomorrow’s workforce and the ability to communicate across sectors, Fabiano brings a new level of understanding and collaboration required to address the necessary changes to better connect industry and education to prepare people for jobs.
