Refers to the strategic practice in which large human capital management (HCM) or human resources (HR) technology platforms acquire AI-driven recruiting and conversational platforms—such as chatbots, scheduling assistants, or candidate engagement tools—to create integrated, end-to-end talent acquisition suites. This trend streamlines high-volume frontline hiring of workers and professional recruitment, while also advancing the development of AI agents within enterprise HR ecosystems.

The context for this increasing practice includes:

• Organizations in sectors such as healthcare, retail, transportation, hospitality, airlines, and entertainment often face persistent high-volume hiring needs.
• AI-powered conversational platforms (e.g., Paradox, HireVue, Phenom) automate candidate screening, interview scheduling, and communications, easing recruiter workloads.
• When enterprise platforms like Workday, Oracle, or SAP acquire these tools, they can strengthen their market position, expand offerings to mid-market and enterprise employers, and accelerate their capabilities in skills-based hiring and AI agent development.
• Industry analysts view this consolidation as part of a broader shift toward “platform convergence” in HR technology, where fragmented point solutions are absorbed into comprehensive HCM systems.

Examples of this practice:

• Workday’s acquisition of Paradox (announced 2025, expected 2026), integrating conversational AI into its recruiting suite to support end-to-end, AI-powered hiring.
• iCIMS’ acquisition of Altru (2020), a video storytelling platform, expanding its candidate engagement capabilities.
• Phenom’s acquisition of Talentcube (2020), adding video recruiting to its AI talent experience platform.

See related terms:

• Skills-Based Hiring
• HR-IT Integration
• Talent Acquisition Platform
• Human Capital Management (HCM)

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), candidate relationship management (CRM) software helps employers connect with current and future job candidates to help fill positions faster. CRM makes it possible to build pipelines of talent and efficiently market your recruitment brand to the best candidates through automated email marketing, recruiting event functionality, job recommendation portals and more.

The process of identifying, finding, and engaging prospective candidates for current or anticipated job openings rather than relying only on individuals who respond to job postings. Candidate sourcing may involve searching professional networks, resume or talent databases, previous applicant pools, employee referrals, industry or professional communities, social networks, and other sources. Increasingly, AI-enabled sourcing tools help employers identify potential candidates, match qualifications and skills with job requirements, and conduct or support initial outreach. Candidate sourcing may include both active job seekers and passive candidates who are not currently applying for jobs.

See: Matching and Hiring Platforms Vs. Job Boards | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

See: Job Board / Platform | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

See: Job Aggregators | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Refers to a geographic area that is most commonly measured at the census tract level (a small statistical area, roughly the size of a neighborhood, used by the U.S. Census Bureau to organize demographic data) and where the supply of licensed childcare is significantly insufficient relative to the number of children who potentially need care. A widely used definition for a childcare desert is when there are three or more children for every available licensed childcare slot, or when no licensed providers exist within that geographic boundary. While definitions vary across research and policy contexts, the “three children per slot” threshold has become a commonly cited benchmark for identifying substantial supply shortages.

The term originated in early childhood policy research and is now widely used by advocacy organizations, government agencies, and workforce development stakeholders to quantify geographic inequities in access to childcare services.

Childcare deserts are typically identified using census tract–level population data, licensed provider capacity data, and ratios comparing children (often under age five) to available licensed slots. Definitions may also differ based on age groups included (infant/toddler vs. all children under five), whether public programs (e.g., Head Start, pre-K) are counted as supply, rural distance measures (travel time to providers), and minimum population thresholds for classification. Despite these methodological differences, the core concept highlights structural access gaps rather than individual family circumstances.

The concept of childcare deserts has increasingly shaped public policy discussions and investment strategies. Although federal statutes do not consistently codify “childcare desert” as a formal legal category, major federal programs require states to assess childcare availability and address supply shortages. As a result, many states operationalize childcare desert mapping to guide funding decisions. Federal policy mechanisms influencing responses include:

• Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG / CCDF): Requires state needs assessments examining availability and access; desert mapping often informs subsidy and expansion strategies.
• Preschool Development Grants Birth-Through-Five (PDG B-5): Supports statewide early childhood system planning; supply-gap analysis frequently guides strategic expansion.
• Pandemic-era stabilization funding (e.g., American Rescue Plan investments): Enabled states to prevent provider closures and prioritize expansion in underserved areas.

States increasingly use childcare desert analysis to design targeted interventions, including:

• Start-up and expansion grants for providers in underserved areas
• Capital construction or renovation funding
• Incentives such as higher reimbursement rates for operating in desert regions
• Workforce initiatives addressing staffing shortages that limit provider capacity
• Public-private partnerships to build community-based solutions

In some states, legislation or grant programs explicitly reference “childcare deserts” when prioritizing investments.

Childcare deserts are increasingly recognized as more than early childhood service gaps; they represent critical infrastructure challenges within the broader learn-and-work ecosystem. Limited childcare availability can affect labor force participation, adult learner enrollment and persistence, workforce mobility and reskilling, and regional economic development. As policymakers adopt skills-based workforce strategies and learning mobility frameworks, access to reliable childcare is increasingly framed as enabling infrastructure that supports participation in education, training, and employment pathways.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), a contingent workforce, or contracted employees, is a workforce that does not have an ongoing contract with a company. The types of contingent workers include:

• Contractors
• Seasonal workers
• Freelancers
• Consultants
• Interns

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), cost per hire is a key recruiting metric that calculates how much a company spends to fill an open position. It helps talent acquisition leaders answer important questions, like “Are we spending our recruiting budget wisely?” and “How could our hiring processes be refined?”

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), a custom career site is a proprietary website that lists your job openings in an intuitive and appealing way, encouraging visiting candidates to explore your brand and apply for available positions. Unlike third-party job-posting sites, career websites are owned by the company that is hiring, or by a recruiter hiring on behalf of another company. This gives them complete control over the design of the website, the messaging, the language, and the hiring process.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), embracing a data-driven recruitment process makes it possible to find and keep top talent at your company, especially when you incorporate the latest in recruitment metrics and analytics tools.

Moving beyond gut feelings and traditional relationship-building, this evidence-based approach delivers proven results for recruiting and HR teams striving to meet their business objectives—with less waiting, less hassle, and less missed opportunities.

According to the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, “demographic change describes the changes in population size and structure caused by changes in birth rates, death rates, and by migration. Demographic change in the Western developed countries of today is marked by low birth rates below population replacement and by rising life expectancy. The result is that populations are aging and shrinking. And migration may overlap with these developments. Migration, for example, leads to further population reductions in the regions of origin and to attenuation in the regions of destination. And if it is the young rather than the old who migrate from a region, aging is exacerbated in the region of origin.”

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), E-Verify is a web-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration. It allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their new employees.

Refers to the growing mismatch between what colleges and universities often present as pathways to entry-level employment and what many employers now expect for jobs labeled “entry level.” In theory, entry-level roles are designed for individuals beginning their careers. In practice, many such positions require prior experience, specialized technical skills, industry certifications, internships, or advanced digital competencies that recent graduates may not yet possess.

This disconnect creates frustration across the learn-and-work ecosystem. Students may complete degrees expecting access to starter jobs, only to find barriers such as experience requirements or unclear skill expectations. Employers may report talent shortages while overlooking capable early-career candidates who could succeed with onboarding and training. Institutions may continue to organize programs around academic credentials alone, while labor markets increasingly value demonstrated competencies, work-based learning, and adaptable skills.

Several factors contribute to the entry-level disconnect:

• Inflation of job requirements, where entry-level postings request multiple years of experience
• Rapid technological change that outpaces curriculum updates
• Weak alignment between academic programs and labor market needs
• Limited access to internships, apprenticeships, or applied learning experiences
• Inconsistent communication of skills gained through coursework and co-curricular experiences
• Reduced employer willingness to train new hires

Addressing the entry-level disconnect often involves stronger employer partnerships, clearer skill signaling, expanded work-based learning, better use of competency-based transcripts or Learning and Employment Records (LERs), and hiring practices that distinguish between entry-level and experienced roles.

The term entry-level disconnect is not currently a widely established term in higher education literature, When the phrase does appear, it is usually used in one of three ways:

• Media and commentary language – Journalists, workforce commentators, and career advisors sometimes use similar language to describe the frustration of graduates encountering “entry-level jobs requiring experience.”
• Employer and recruiting discussions – HR professionals and talent consultants may use the phrase informally when discussing unrealistic job postings, talent pipelines, or hiring friction.
• Higher education and workforce policy conversations –The underlying issue is widely discussed, even if the exact phrase is not. Many reports focus on why graduates struggle to access first jobs despite holding credentials.

Related terms: school-to-work transition, education-to-employment mismatch, skills gap, credential mismatch, underemployment of college graduates, career readiness gap, labor market alignment

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a U.S. government agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. It makes sure that people are treated fairly at work, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. The EEOC investigates complaints, helps resolve disputes, and provides guidance to employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under federal anti-discrimination laws.

An F-1 Visa is a type of visa in the United States that allows international students to come to the U.S. to study fulltime at an accredited college, university, high school, language school, or other approved academic institution. To qualify for an F-1 visa, a student must:

• Be accepted by a U.S. school that is authorized to enroll international students.
• Prove they have enough money to pay for their education and living expenses while in the U.S.
• Show that they plan to return to their home country after finishing their studies.

The F-1 visa is the most common visa for international students. It opens doors for students around the world to access U.S. education and, in many cases, gain practical work experience through programs like Optional Practical Training (OPT).

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a program in the U.S. that allows international students who are studying at U.S. colleges or universities on an F-1 visa to work in jobs related to their field of study for up to 12 months during or after finishing their degree. Students in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields may be eligible for a 24-month extension, for a total of up to 36 months of work authorization.

Benefits of OPT are fourfold:

1. Gives international students the chance to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to jobs in the U.S., helping them build valuable skills and increase their chances of future employment—whether in the U.S. or their home country.
2. Offers U.S. employers access to a highly skilled, diverse, and motivated talent pool.
3. From a workforce development perspective, OPT can contributes to innovation and economic growth by filling skill gaps in key industries, especially in STEM fields.
4. OPT offers the opportunity to strengthen ties between higher education and employers, showing how international education can support labor market needs.

OPT has existed since the early 1990s in its current form but has roots in earlier immigration policy that allowed student employment under certain conditions. The original purpose was to provide a bridge from study to work without requiring students to immediately change their visa status. The 24-month STEM extension was introduced in 2008 and revised in 2016 to expand access and strengthen oversight.

In recent years, OPT has faced political and legal scrutiny. Some critics argue it takes jobs from U.S. workers, while supporters emphasize its role in attracting global talent and maintaining U.S. competitiveness. Proposals to change or limit the program have surfaced periodically, but major changes have not yet occurred. However, the future of OPT is uncertain, and it continues to be a subject of debate in immigration and workforce policy.

See:  Curricular Practical Training (CPT) | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Refers to a pedagogical model and instructional strategy that reverses, or “flips”, the typical cycle of lecture attendance and homework completion. This technique increases learner engagement and the effective use of classroom time by assigning exploration of new content (such as viewing recorded lectures online) as pre-class homework, and using in-class time to engage in live problem-solving.

This model shifts the passive acquisition of knowledge outside of the classroom, and improves engagement through active learning inside the classroom. Learners in a flipped classroom have immediate access to instructor feedback when completing tasks, unlike learners who complete traditional homework in isolation.

Alternate term: Flipped course

As workplaces become less traditional, some companies are turning to the practice of hiring employees for a fraction of the time fulltime employees would work. This hiring management strategy, usually applied to executive-level roles, enables companies to diversify their employment by bringing on talent on a quarterly, monthly and even weekly basis; make shorter-term hiring decisions; attract valuable talent and benefit from their skills and expertise without paying the same costs as a fulltime employee; and expand staffing capacity. From the employee’s standpoint, the employee could be hired to work for multiple organizations throughout the week. In these situations, employees function like a freelancer or contractor.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), for talent acquisition teams, full cycle recruiting offers an end-to-end hiring process that delivers results, without frustrating candidates or overwhelming hiring managers. In today’s competitive talent market, it delivers a more efficient and more human approach to hiring.

Interest is growing in understanding both the evolving, future nature of work and the skills, knowledge, and credentials workers need to succeed within it. These interconnected concepts offer complementary perspectives on how work and employability are changing in response to technology, economic shifts, and societal trends.

• Future of Employment: Focuses on individuals’ ability to obtain, maintain, and advance in meaningful work. It emphasizes the skills, adaptability, credentials, and lifelong learning strategies that help workers remain relevant as the labor market evolves.

• Future of Work: Focuses on the evolving structure, organization, and nature of work itself. It examines how jobs, tasks, workplace models, and labor market dynamics are changing, often driven by technology, automation, artificial intelligence, and shifting work norms.

Refers broadly to the worldwide system through which workers, employers, jobs, skills, and workforce demand operate across nations and geographic regions. Advances in globalization, digital technologies, workforce platforms, migration, remote work, and international supply chains have increased the visibility and movement of talent across countries and industries.

The global labor market continues to be shaped by national and regional laws, immigration systems, workforce policies, credential recognition practices, economic conditions, language, technological change, and employer hiring strategies. Artificial intelligence (AI), automation, digital workforce platforms, and remote work are increasingly influencing how employers identify, recruit, manage, and develop talent across industries and geographic regions. As a result, labor market participation and workforce mobility vary significantly across nations, industries, occupations, and organizations.

Growing global economic integration and advances in workforce analytics have increased attention to research on global labor market trends. International organizations, workforce analytics firms, employer surveys, and labor market intelligence platforms increasingly monitor hiring patterns, skills demand, workforce shortages, talent mobility, and changing employment trends across regions and industries.

Global labor market dynamics are particularly visible in sectors such as healthcare, cybersecurity, engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics and supply chains, agriculture, climate and environmental industries, and technology.

The concept is frequently discussed in workforce development, labor economics, migration studies, higher education, human capital strategy, and future-of-work research.

See Topic Brief: Global Labor Market Trends | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

The H-1B visa is a U.S. nonimmigrant work visa that allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations”—roles that typically require at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent expertise in a specific field. The visa is employer-sponsored, subject to annual numerical caps and a selection process, and granted for a limited duration (generally up to six years, with some exceptions). Historically, when applications exceeded the annual cap, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) used a random lottery system to allocate available visas.

The H-1B visa category was established under the Immigration Act of 1990 and has become a central mechanism for connecting U.S. employers to global high-skill talent. It is used most extensively in technology-related fields, along with healthcare, engineering, finance, and higher education. The majority of H-1B visa holders originate from India, followed by China and a smaller number of other countries.

Within the learn-and-work ecosystem, the H-1B visa functions as a key policy instrument shaping global talent mobility and employer access to specialized skills. While the statutory cap on H-1B visas has remained stable (generally 85,000 new visas annually), recent policy changes have reshaped how visas are allocated. Beginning with the FY 2027 cap season, the selection process is shifting from a random lottery to a wage-weighted system, in which applicants associated with higher wage levels receive greater likelihood of selection. These changes place increased emphasis on wages, raise application and compliance requirements, and tighten selection criteria.

The shift has the effect of prioritizing higher-paid and more experienced workers, while potentially reducing access for entry-level roles and lower-wage sectors. It also introduces a stronger connection between employer compensation strategies and immigration outcomes, making workforce planning, wage-setting, and immigration sponsorship more closely aligned.

While sometimes described informally as a “credential,” the H-1B visa is not a credential. It does not validate skills or competencies, but rather provides legal authorization to work in a qualifying occupation. However, because eligibility is tied to specialized knowledge and degree-level preparation, it is often associated with credentialed or highly skilled workers.

See:  International Students | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

See: Wage-Weighted H-1B Selection System | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Refers to individuals who are willing and able to work but are systematically excluded from employment opportunities due to hiring practices—most notably the use of automated applicant tracking systems (ATS), credential filters, and rigid job requirements that screen out qualified candidates. As a result, these workers remain “hidden” from employers despite possessing relevant skills, experience, and potential.

Research in 2023 from Harvard Business School’s Project on Managing the Future of Work shows that increased reliance on technology and changing demographics have shaped the way companies hire. Hiring processes are designed to find top candidates in an efficient manner, but in doing so systematically exclude several categories of qualified workers, including caregivers, veterans, the formerly incarcerated, those with disabilities, etc. Companies who have hired one or more of these groups of hidden workers report that these workers are more loyal and perform better on several key metrics compared to traditional sources of talent. With many companies facing a talent shortage, hiring these hidden workers is proposed as a solution by researchers.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), a high-volume hiring strategy remains an ongoing challenge for many companies looking to scale rapidly. Businesses in retail, hospitality, healthcare and other high-turnover sectors often need to recruit dozens or even hundreds of employees under tight deadlines. Without careful planning, this fast-paced hiring can end in poor applicant evaluation, staggering costs and negative candidate experiences that harm the employer’s brand.

Partnerships between higher education institutions and employers are increasingly useful in addressing talent development in key job categories. Partnership agreements are especially prevalent in areas such as data science, digital technologies, nursing, programming, and renewable energy.

Employers partner with higher education institutions often as a strategy for recruiting talent in different geographic areas of the country, and recruiting talent to diversify their workforce, especially focused on race/ethnicity, gender, age, and disability diversity.

Agreements are typically struck between higher education institutions and employers through a formal partnership.  Employers may commit to hiring a certain percentage of graduates in one or more disciplines while institutions commit to increasing their number of graduates in various disciplines.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, three prevalent types of partnerships include:

• Workforce Planning. The partnership forecast talent baselines —the number of expected graduates in various disciplines and the number employers expect to hire in those disciplines. The partnership identify and prioritize the “hard and soft skills” that these graduates need.
• Academic Program Design. The partnership codesigns the curriculum and jointly appoint faculty for programs of interest. They also determine the number and purpose of employer-sponsored internships and applied training programs; the facilities, labs, faculty, and support services needed to accommodate increasing numbers of students; and joint research and innovation hubs that involve students.
• Student Recruitment. The partnership outlines the steps needed to increase the number of graduates; e.g., conducting market research on targeted student populations, securing funding for student financial assistance, and recruiting students.

Refers to the movement and application of skills, knowledge, and competencies across roles, industry sectors, academic disciplines, or organizations at a comparable level of responsibility or seniority, without requiring vertical advancement or additional formal credentials. It emphasizes the portability of expertise and the capacity of individuals to apply what they know in new contexts. This practice can support lateral career mobility, cross-sector collaboration, and skills-based workforce strategies.

Although frequently assumed to be a natural feature of a dynamic labor market, horizontal expertise transfer occurs less often in practice than expected. A primary constraint is the limited ability of employers, educators, and workforce intermediaries to accurately identify, assess, and trust skills that have been acquired in different settings. Job titles, degrees, and industry-specific experience continue to function as proxies for competence, even when underlying skills are demonstrably transferable.

Horizontal expertise transfer is most visible—but still uneven—across industry sectors where skills are modular, tool-based, or functionally defined, such as:

• Technology and digital roles, such as software development, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and UX/UI design, where skills frequently transfer across industries including finance, healthcare, education, and government,
• Healthcare and health-adjacent fields, including transitions from clinical roles into health IT, informatics, quality improvement, or compliance, and from public health into policy, analytics, or community workforce roles.
• Advanced manufacturing and engineering, where competencies in lean practices, quality assurance, process optimization, robotics, and safety are applied across automotive, aerospace, energy, and logistics sectors, with industry certifications sometimes facilitating lateral mobility.
• Education, workforce development, and nonprofit organizations, where skills in instructional design, assessment, program management, learner support, and partnership coordination support movement among K–12 systems, higher education institutions, corporate training environments, and workforce boards.
• Professional services, including consulting, project management, operations, and change management, where skills are commonly valued for their cross-sector applicability rather than for industry-specific experience.

Despite this apparent suitability, successful horizontal expertise transfer depends heavily on how skills are documented, translated, and validated. Individuals pursuing lateral transitions must often reframe experience using cross-industry skill language, provide evidence through portfolios or work artifacts, and rely on alternative credentials, microcredentials, or skills profiles. Employers, in turn, must be willing to assess competencies directly rather than defaulting to role-based or sector-based screening criteria.

As a result, horizontal expertise transfer is not solely a function of individual capability. It is shaped by the surrounding skills infrastructure, including competency frameworks, skills taxonomies, assessment practices, credentialing systems, hiring technologies, and internal talent marketplaces. Its uneven realization highlights persistent gaps between skills-first aspirations and implementation within the learn-and-work ecosystem.

Related terms: transferable skills, lateral mobility, skills portability, cross-functional mobility, career lattices, skills-based hiring 

Refers to a structured model or system that outlines the skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attributes needed to perform effectively within an organization or industry. The HCF is commonly used in talent management, recruitment, performance evaluation, and career development processes. Features of an HCF typically focus on:

• Human/talent (human capital, employees, workforce, people, competence)
• Capability/organization (the team, workplace, culture)
• Leadership (bridges talent and organization, refers to individual leaders and collective leadership)
• Human resources (HR department, practices, people)

HCFs commonly include a focus on five personality traits – the labels for these “five big factors” use the acronym “OCEAN:”

• Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
• Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)
• Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
• Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/judgmental)
• Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)

Incorporating the five personality traits into an HCF allows organizations to better understand and leverage individuals’ strengths, preferences, and potential areas for development— alongside the other elements of the HCF (e.g., skills, knowledge, and behaviors).

Refers to the knowledge, skills, competencies, experiences, health, creativity, and other attributes that enable individuals to contribute to work, society, and their own well-being. Human capital is developed through education, training, work experience, lifelong learning, health, and other life experiences, and is widely regarded as one of the primary drivers of economic growth, innovation, organizational performance, and individual opportunity.

The concept emerged in economics during the mid-twentieth century through scholars who argued that investments in education, training, and health increase individuals’ productive capabilities in much the same way that investments in physical capital increase the productive capacity of businesses and economies. Human capital theory subsequently became a foundational concept in economics, workforce development, education policy, and organizational management.

Today, many researchers view human capital as encompassing the capabilities that enable individuals to adapt to technological change, exercise judgment, solve complex problems, collaborate effectively, and continue learning throughout increasingly long and dynamic careers. Organizations such as the Stanford Center on Longevity further emphasize that human capital encompasses not only workforce skills, but also personal growth, civic participation, caregiving, health, and the capacities that enable individuals to flourish across the lifespan.

In an AI-enabled economy, discussions of human capital increasingly focus on the complementary relationship between human and machine capabilities. As AI automates routine tasks, the importance of uniquely human capabilities (e.g., contextual intelligence, ethical judgment, creativity, communication, adaptability, and relationship building) has become an important component of human capital. Consequently, many workforce strategies now emphasize continuous learning, reskilling, upskilling, and lifelong development as essential investments in maintaining and strengthening human capital.

I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) is a form used by the Federal government to verify the identity and eligibility status of all workers in the U.S. Some states mandate that this form be completed before any employee is hired.

Internal recruiting is the process of filling open job positions in an organization by hiring from within an existing workforce. Some companies allow their employees to apply to open positions alongside external candidates at the same time. Others provide their employees with exclusivity in the application process for a time before they post the job externally.

OFCCP Compliance is the Internet Applicant final rule, issued by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. It addresses recordkeeping by Federal contractors and subcontractors about the Internet hiring process and the solicitation of race, gender and ethnicity of Internet applicants.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), offer management software eliminates manual, error-prone processes to get offer letters out to candidates faster. Branded templates and e-signatures are stored within the system for easily repeatable processes, while approvals are managed at scale during this critical stage of the recruitment lifecycle.

Offshoring refers to the relocation or assignment of business activities, tasks, or jobs from one country to another. This may involve moving entire positions or operational functions overseas; shifting specific tasks or components of work to foreign affiliates or contractors; or expanding employment in international locations in ways that substitute for, or reduce, domestic hiring. Offshoring can occur at the job level (visible relocation of positions) or at the task level, where discrete functions—such as software development, accounting services, customer support, or data processing—are performed abroad even if the core job remains domestically based.

International business expansion differs from offshoring. Companies may grow internationally by opening new markets, adding foreign operations, or increasing overseas employment—without reducing their domestic employment. In such cases, global growth complements rather than substitutes for domestic hiring.

Measurement note: Because modern work is increasingly organized around tasks rather than fixed job roles, offshoring is often difficult to measure directly. Policymakers typically rely on indirect indicators such as multinational employment trends, trade in services data, foreign affiliate activity, or industry-level employment patterns.

These terms should not be confused with:

• Outsourcing, which refers to contracting work to an external entity and may occur either domestically or internationally.
• Globalization or international expansion more broadly, which does not necessarily involve substituting foreign labor for domestic labor.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), onboarding software streamlines the onboarding process by replacing handwritten forms with online documents, including Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify), paperless I-9, iForms and background checks. Onboarding software can save your company money by eliminating all shipping and storage fees associated with the handling of paper forms and by removing your HR staff from the data entry process.

Refers to young people, typically ages 16–24, who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the workforce. The term emphasizes potential rather than deficit, framing these young people not as “dropouts” or “disconnected,” but as individuals with untapped talent who require pathways back into education, training, employment, and civic participation.

The term began gaining widespread use in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It emerged as a strengths-based alternative to earlier labels such as “disconnected youth,” “idle youth,” “status offenders,” or “at-risk youth.” While these earlier terms focused on deficit or risk, opportunity youth reflect a policy and practice shift toward reconnection, systems alignment, and long-term economic mobility.

Recent estimates suggest that approximately 5–6 million young people in the United States fall into this category at any given time. This population spans race, geography, and socioeconomic background, though rates of disconnection are often higher among young people from low-income communities, youth aging out of foster care, young parents, justice-involved youth, and those without access to stable transportation, childcare, or digital connectivity.

The condition of disconnection reflects absence from two primary launching institutions of adulthood: Education systems (secondary, postsecondary, or credentialing programs), and Employment systems (formal labor market participation). Because of this dual absence, opportunity youth sit at the intersection of the education-to-work pipeline, workforce development policy, and social services systems.

Efforts to reconnect opportunity youth often involve:

• Career and technical education (CTE) pathways
• Apprenticeships and work-based learning
• Short-term credential programs
• Wraparound support services (mentoring, childcare, transportation, mental health support)
• Reengagement centers and alternative education models
• Youth employment and summer job initiatives

Federal and state policies tied to workforce development (e.g., under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), education funding, and community-based partnerships frequently target this population.

A recent report by American Enterprise Institute titled “Reconnecting Opportunity Youth to Work and a Future,” argues that the scale and persistence of youth disconnection require more coordinated, systemic solutions rather than fragmented programmatic responses.

A related term is opportunity population, a broader strategic framing term  often used in workforce and  policy discussions to describe multiple groups with underutilized potential due to systemic barriers to education or employment.  This population may include multiple groups facing structural barriers to education or employment, such as:

• Opportunity youth
• Justice-involved individuals
• Veterans transitioning to civilian work
• Individuals with disabilities
• Long-term unemployed adults
• Displaced workers
• Returning caregivers
• Immigrants or refugees (depending on context)

The exact definition varies by organization; it is generally less standardized than “opportunity youth.”

The difference between opportunity youth and opportunity population is that opportunity youth refer to:

• A specific demographic subgroup.
• Typically refers to individuals ages 16–24.
• Defined by a status condition: not enrolled in education and not participating in the workforce.
• Widely used in youth policy, workforce development, and education reform.
• Has a fairly standardized meaning across research and policy communities.

Refer to various types of employer recognitions that acknowledge the strengths, achievements, and contributions of employees, with the goal of fostering a sense of value and appreciation of employees. Approaches often include extra paid time off, gift cards, public acknowledgments, and peer nominations for recognition.

According to a Deloitte study, the percentage of respondents that rated their organization’s recognition and word programs “very effective” achieved the following results:

• Alignment with business goals 12%
• Retaining talent 8%
• Attracting talent 6%
• Growing and developing talent 5%
• Motivating talent 3%

A term often used in state talent development processes.  It refers to the process of generating awareness of career pathways that lead to state employment—and providing the mechanisms for individuals to attain those jobs.

A strategic approach in talent acquisition where employers actively seek, initiate communication with, and engage potential candidates, especially those not actively applying to posted jobs, before a role becomes open or before an immediate hiring need arises. This outreach can include direct messaging, personalized networking, relationship building, participation in industry communities, and targeted engagement tailored to candidates’ skills and preferences.

Traditional recruitment often relies on reactive methods—posting job ads and waiting for applicants. Proactive outreach shifts the strategy to anticipate hiring needs, build pipelines of qualified talent, and strengthen employer-candidate relationships over time. This is particularly important in tight labor markets, when employers seek to attract passive candidates (individuals not actively job searching but open to new opportunities) and reduce time-to-hire and cost-per-hire. Proactive outreach efforts may also enhance employer branding, support workforce planning, and align recruitment with long-term organizational goals.

Whereas traditional recruitment waits for candidate resumes in response to job postings, proactive outreach involves identifying target talent pools early, initiating individualized contact, and nurturing relationships so that candidates are engaged and informed well before specific roles are available. This approach treats recruitment similarly to marketing and involves deliberate talent pipeline development and ongoing communication.

Proactive outreach enables organizations to stay competitive in attracting quality talent, reduces dependence on the timing of job postings, and helps align workforce strategy with organizational growth. It is especially critical in sectors with skills shortages or evolving skill demands where waiting for applications may miss top candidates who are currently employed or not actively searching.

A structured tool used in skills-based talent management to distinguish varying levels of expertise in a given skill. These frameworks typically define three to five levels of proficiency (five being the most common), enabling consistent assessment and development of talent across functions. Though not universally adopted, many organizations use proficiency frameworks in performance management, career development, and talent acquisition. Assessments often start with employee self-evaluations, followed by manager validation. These evaluations are frequently tied to year-end reviews or career planning.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), any software application that facilitates chat or text messaging engagement during the recruitment process. A recruiting chat software application could be part of an end-to-end recruitment platform, or it could exist as a stand-alone application that can be added to the recruitment process.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), recruitment metrics are a measurement of the effectiveness of your recruiting process. Organizations can use these data to benchmark how their recruitment process stacks up against industry averages and to make improvements for correcting any inefficiencies. Some examples of recruiting metrics include:

• Candidate experience

• Cost of hire

• Sourcing channel

• Retention rate

Recruitment analytics is the practice of using data-driven insights to optimize hiring practices and strategies. It involves gathering, analyzing and interpreting recruiting data to identify trends, flag gaps and improve the company’s overall hiring performance.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), recruiting operations optimizes the process of talent acquisition. Recruiting operations is most often a role inhabited by a single person, but at larger organizations, it can also take the form of a small department. Regardless of how it takes shape, recruiting operations is a strategic function that oversees and improves the hiring process from end to end.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), recruitment is the process of finding and screening qualified candidates for a specific position and offering the position to the best candidate. An applicant tracking system can help manage the complex and rewarding recruitment process.

Recruiting software is an application designed to help organizations recruit employees more efficiently. Businesses of all sizes leverage it to handle job applications and manage and screen resumes. Other features include individual applicant tracking, requisition tracking, automated resume ranking, job posting, pre-screening and response tracking.

According to WGU Labs, the research, development, and investment arm of Western Governors University (WGU), Rising Talent is a segment of U.S. adults stuck in low-wage, non-resilient jobs with limited postsecondary education. WGU Labs has identified key characteristics of Rising Talent individuals:

• Limited higher education: Highest degree earned is a high school diploma or less — 20% did not graduate with a high school diploma or obtain its equivalent (e.g., GED). They may have enrolled in a college but did not earn a degree.
• Low career resiliency: Median per-person household income of $7,000.
• Marginalized communities: Disproportionately Black and Hispanic.
• Negative self-views: Self-reported being more anxious, less open-minded, having lower work standards.
• Negative experiences with early education: Many struggled in high school, reporting lower GPAs and poorer experiences.
• Technology gap: Over a quarter (25.9%) report no computer use, limiting their access to online education and job opportunities in today’s tech-driven economy.
• Health and social challenges: 32% have no healthcare coverage, report poor general health, are more likely to have experienced trauma.
• Family and household: Often come from larger households (average size 4.11 people per household) and more likely to be unmarried, leading to increased caregiving responsibilities and financial strain.

WGU Labs has found these individuals account for an estimated 15% (some 24 million) of the 160 million working-age individuals in the U.S.) who face systemic challenges such as inherited poverty, underfunded education, and limited digital access. These challenges impact their ability to access education and improve their economic status.

This group is distinguished from “some college, no degree” individuals.

See: Research: Rising Talent – WGU Labs | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library (learnworkecosystemlibrary.com)

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), screening is the process of testing an applicant on their trustworthiness, skills and personality to ensure that they are a good fit for the position. This can be done through screening questions and skills matching submitted with an applicant’s resume.

Skills are increasingly viewed as a valuable currency for employers to consider when managing talent. To better understand and leverage talent pools, it is important for employers to identify the skills needed to achieve their organization’s mission, and to identify those skills possessed by their organization’s existing work force.

A skills cloud refers to an inventory or comprehensive overview of the capabilities of a workforce, allowing organizations to understand the skills and competencies which exist among their employees. Skills clouds can be developed from surveys or from analyzing existing data sets. Skills clouds can be useful for workforce planning, talent management, and identifying areas for employee development.

Alternate terms: Skills Registry, Talent Cloud, Competency Cloud, Ability Index

Strategies organizations use to address the growing disconnect between current workforce capabilities and rapidly evolving business needs. According to Mercer’s 2024/2025 Skills Snapshot Survey Report, companies face significant challenges such as rising labor costs, new work models, limited talent agility, and persistent skill shortages. To close the resulting skills gaps, employers are adopting a range of solutions such as:

• Rewarding skill acquisition
• Hiring external talent with in-demand skills
• Incentivizing skill development through salary progression, promotions, critical skill premiums, and/or performance bonuses

These strategies reflect a broader shift toward skills-based talent models that prioritize adaptability and targeted workforce investment.

As defined by Jobs for the Future, refers to organizing all talent acquisition and talent development activities around objectively defined skills. This is a departure from reliance on proxy signals of skills, such as four-year college degree requirements, number of years of experience, or job titles in a candidate’s career history.

Examples of skills-based talent practices:

• Rewriting job descriptions to focus on required skills and eliminating unnecessary degree requirements
• Partnering with local community colleges or training programs to access new employees who have completed specific types of training
• Requiring managers to consider internal talent for new roles before posting jobs externally
• Providing managers and employees with information about possible career paths, the skills those paths require, and resources to develop those skills

Refers to employer hiring that puts skills at the forefront of hiring strategies.  Individuals seeking employment are recognized for their skills and capabilities, and these are aligned with the roles requiring specific skills and competencies needed to perform these roles well.

Skills-first hiring does not exclude traditional hiring systems that focus on college degrees and other credentials; rather, this newer evolving approach enables employers to widen opportunities to hiring a more diverse workforce, specifically to expand the talent pool, democratize access to jobs, and make the labor market and workforce more resilient.

LinkedIn has studied the benefits of skills-first hiring and reports in Skills-First: Reimagining the Labor Market and Breaking Down Barriers (2023) that this approach can:

• Add up to 20 times more eligible workers to employer talent pools.
• On average, globally increase the talent pool of workers without bachelor’s degrees by 9% more than for workers with degrees.
• Increase the proportion of women in the talent pool 24% more than it would for men in jobs where women are underrepresented.
• Increase the talent pool for Gen X workers by 8.5 times, 9 times for Millennial workers, and 10.3 times for Gen Z workers.

Skills-first talent management is an approach that focuses on people’s skills and competencies throughout the talent life cycle, regardless of how or where those skills were acquired. For example, organizations that use skills-first strategies have moved beyond specific degree requirements in hiring and promotion decisions and, instead, evaluate candidates based on the skills they have, whether those skills were acquired from past jobs, volunteer opportunities, life experiences, or their own personal upskilling.

Skills-first talent management looks different at various levels of the learn-and-work ecosystem:

• Recruiting and Sourcing 
  • Looks like removing degree requirements from public job descriptions
  • adjusting language on the recruiting landing page
  • advertising skills-based job descriptions
  • expanding sourcing channels
  • identifying community-based organizations, community colleges, and training organizations in target geographies that have preexisting programs that support a company’s talent needs.
• Hiring
  • Looking at open job roles and mapping out the skills needed the first day on the job
  • Building diverse interviewing teams
  • Creating skills-based interview rubrics
  • Coaching interviewers on how to use rubrics
• Advancement and Retention 
  • Developing skills-based performance rubrics
  • identifying upskilling needs
  • developing or buying formal upskilling programs
  • creating skills-based pathways for internal mobility.

According to Grads of Life,  more than 60 employers (and the number is growing) are embracing skills-first practices, including Accenture, The Adecco Group, ADP, Airbnb, Allstate, American Express, Amgen, Aon, AT&T, Bain & Company, Bain Capital, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Bright Horizons, Blackstone, Care.com, Cargill, Caterpillar, Chub, Cisco, Clario, Cleveland Clinic, ConSol USA, Deloitte, Delta, Dow, Eli Lilly & Company, Elanco, Emerald, ERT, Genpact, Gilead, GM, Goldman Sachs, Hika, HP, Humana, IBM, Intermountain Healthcare, ITW, JetBlue, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Lowe’s, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Merck, NBA, Nike, Nordstrom, Northrop Grumman, PepsiCo, Randstad, Roper Technologies, Stryker, Synchrony, Target, Trane Technologies, United Airlines, Verizon, Walmart, Weill Cornell Medicine, Wells Fargo, Whirlpool, Yum! Brands, and others.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), sourcing is the ability to identify and classify candidates by skill and experience level, and then allocate them to open positions based on these metrics as the positions become available. The candidate’s resume then becomes available for the recruiter or hiring manager to contact the candidate.

A model in which there is no dedicated central entity that coordinates the identification or the cultivation of new talent for state organizations. Each state agency is responsible for recruiting and hiring its own employees. This model is generally viewed as a flexible, responsive way to hire but there are fewer incentives for agencies to seek talent outside of their usual recruitment channels.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), Strategic Workforce Planning is the process of aligning your talent strategy with long-term business goals. It’s about anticipating workforce needs, identifying skill gaps, and ensuring your organization is equipped with the right people at the right time. The key benefits of SWP include improved talent retention, enhanced organizational agility, and the ability to adapt quickly to market changes.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), talent acquisition is the process of finding, attracting and engaging highly talented individuals and having them join an organization. It includes applicant tracking, onboarding, workforce planning, sourcing, recruitment marketing automation and more.

Talent assessment tools are used for pre-employment screening purposes, assessing candidates on their knowledge and skills, work style, and personality. Talent assessments can include multiple-choice questions, open-ended prompts, and questions requiring audio- or video-based responses.

A term originating in management and Human Resources (HR) that refers to the structures and culture in which talent flows — into and within and out of an organization.  This “ecosystem” approach to personnel management is intended to provide a better employee experience and be more adaptive to business needs.  Included in an organization’s talent ecosystem are the sources it uses to recruit talent, such as online job marketplaces, college internships, freelance gigs, and contractors.  In an effective talent ecosystem, employees should have clear pathways for advancement or movement within an organization and be able to identify where their work relates most vitally to that of others. 

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), talent pipeline is a pathway between job seekers and employers. Organizations build a talent pipeline to create a supply of candidates it can access any time.

Talent pipelining is a type of proactive recruiting. It requires effort, strategy and maintenance. When it operates successfully, it provides organizations with a steady flow of high-quality applicants.

Your talent pool is your pipeline of top potential candidates.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), text recruiting software uses SMS, chat, and AI across multiple platforms to engage with candidates at scale. All communications are housed within a compliant platform, eliminating the need for recruiters to send texts to candidates from their personal phones.

This can include “Text to apply,” which enables candidates to send a word or code to a phone number to begin the application process. Once they send the code or keyword, they’ll receive an automatic response with further information. The candidate may receive a complete application, a document with more information, or a link to a form or website.

The decision by a retired individual to return to paid employment, self-employment, consulting, or other forms of compensated work after a period of retirement. Unretirement may be full-time, part-time, temporary, project-based, or flexible. Returning to work is often motivated by financial needs, personal fulfillment, social engagement, a desire to continue contributing knowledge and expertise, and/or employer demand for experienced workers.

Unretirement reflects a broader shift away from the traditional view of retirement as a permanent exit from the workforce. Instead, retirement is increasingly viewed as one stage within a longer, more flexible career journey. Longer life expectancy, improved health, labor shortages, flexible work arrangements, and changing economic conditions are contributing to the growth of unretirement.

The impacts of unretirement are reshaping workforce planning, retirement policy, and career development by:

• Expanding the available talent pool through experienced workers
• Supporting multigenerational workplaces
• Encouraging lifelong learning and reskilling throughout longer careers
• Increasing demand for flexible and phased employment arrangements
• Challenging traditional assumptions about career endings and retirement.

Refers to the potential abilities and skills of individuals that have not yet been fully developed or utilized.

This term is often used in an employer context by Human Resources (HR) to refer to employees who have not been given opportunities to fully develop their skills and abilities, or be recognized for hidden abilities and skills they may possess that have not yet been identified or utilized, developed their full potential within the organization.

There are a number of approaches organizations use to identify untapped talent in their workforce, including:

• Regular employee assessments (e.g., 360-degree evaluations, personality tests).
• Encouraging employees to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses, and identify areas where they would like to grow and develop.
• Mapping the skills and expertise of employees can identify areas where additional training and development may be necessary, and highlight employees with the potential to develop new skills and take on new roles.
• Regular employee surveys can help understand the motivations, interests, and goals of employees, and identify employees with untapped talent in areas outside of their current role.
• Allowing employees to work on cross-functional projects or rotate into different roles within the organization can identify employees with untapped talent.

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), video interviewing refers to an interviewing style which takes place remotely using digital video technology. Video interviews can be two-way, where both the interviewer and the job candidate are present during the video session, or one-way, where the candidate pre-records their interview with prompts from the recruiter.

Video recruiting refers to the use of recorded or live video technologies to screen and assess job candidates as part of the hiring process. Video-based hiring tools allow employers to evaluate communication skills, behavioral competencies, and job-readiness through asynchronous interviews, recorded skill demonstrations, and simulated work tasks. Once a niche practice, video recruiting has become increasingly mainstream as employers seek alternatives to resume-heavy screening in an era of AI-generated applications and growing hiring volumes.
Video recruiting is closely connected to the broader shift toward skills-based hiring, in which demonstrated capabilities and performance evidence may be prioritized over traditional credentials or self-reported qualifications.

See Topic Brief: Video Recruiting | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

According to iCIMS (provider of talent acquisition software), is a scheduled online event hosted on a single online channel that’s designed to connect large groups of candidates with recruiters. Candidates and talent acquisition professionals meet in a virtual space to discuss job opportunities.

This is part of a larger virtual recruiting strategy, where talent acquisition professionals make use of teleconferencing, virtual events, text engagement, and web-administered forms and assessments to conduct their recruitment efforts.

Refers to a revised method for allocating H-1B visas in the United States, in which applicants are selected based in part on the wage level associated with the offered position rather than through a fully random lottery. Beginning with the FY 2027 H-1B cap season, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced a weighted selection approach that assigns greater probability of selection to applicants offered higher wages, as defined by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels.

Under this system, positions aligned with higher wage tiers (e.g., Level III and Level IV) receive more weight in the selection process than lower-wage positions (e.g., Level I and Level II). As a result, employers offering higher compensation have increased likelihood of securing H-1B visas for sponsored workers, while entry-level and lower-wage roles may face reduced selection odds.

The effects of the wage-weighted selection system are expected to vary across employers, industries, and regions. Start-ups and smaller businesses may face challenges due to more limited flexibility to offer higher wages, while employers in lower-wage geographic areas could experience reduced selection odds relative to higher-wage markets.

Sector-specific impacts are also emerging. For example, healthcare employers may be disproportionately affected, as many H-1B roles in healthcare have historically been concentrated in lower wage tiers. The American Hospital Association indicates that a majority of H-1B healthcare workers—including pharmacists, technicians, physicians, and therapists—have been employed at Level I or Level II wage levels, with relatively few positions at the highest wage tier. Under a wage-weighted system, this distribution may reduce selection likelihood for these roles and could have implications for workforce supply in fields already experiencing shortages.

Within the learn-and-work ecosystem, the shift to a wage-weighted selection system reflects a broader policy trend linking immigration access to labor market value. It strengthens the connection between compensation strategies and talent mobility, requiring earlier alignment between wage-setting, workforce planning, and immigration sponsorship decisions. The system may advantage larger employers and higher-wage sectors while creating challenges for smaller organizations, lower-wage regions, and fields that rely more heavily on early-career talent.

See: H-1B (U.S.) Visa – International Talent Pipeline | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library