Indeed’s director of social impact explains how employers can be active innovators, not observers, in breaking down hiring barriers in the job market.

When policymakers and educators look for ways to help low-income and underemployed people get better jobs, they frequently focus on expanding college access, improving graduation rates, or doing a better job of linking education to careers. But what if more, or better, education is not the answer?

Much has been written about degree inflation, or the growing number of employers that require applicants to have four-year degrees for jobs that don’t require college-level skills, but few solutions exist. Given the high volume of applications submitted for every job opening, employers need ways to quickly determine which candidates have the required skills and abilities. A college degree is an easy-to-use, if inaccurate, proxy.

Abigail Carlton, the first director of social impact at Indeed, is helping to change that practice.

Indeed is a powerful player in the global market for talent. The world’s No. 1 job site, Indeed has more than 250 million unique visitors per month. Carlton’s focus at Indeed is to find innovative ways to help address bias and barriers in the hiring process so that everyone gets a fair shot. She partners with Indeed’s employer clients and its product technology teams to find ways to drive more inclusive hiring through Indeed’s core products and services.

Carlton joined Indeed in 2018, and in her short time there, much of her work has focused on how these two Indeed products can help nontraditional candidates get good jobs:

• Indeed Assessments, a skills-based screening platform that allows nontraditional job candidates to showcase their qualifications
• Employer Hiring Events, where Indeed and Goodwill partner with Indeed clients to host hiring events at Goodwill locations using Indeed’s event management tools, providing opportunities for on-the-spot job offers

These are two examples of tools that Indeed has introduced to help employers think beyond the traditional resume and expand their pool of candidates.

JFF’s Carey O’Connor recently spoke with Carlton about why she is so passionate about these initiatives and her work at Indeed.

The JFF Changemakers series tells the stories of people at the center of a growing movement that’s reshaping the way companies invest in the well-being and advancement of their workers.

Who are the Changemakers? They are corporate visionaries who are stepping up and stepping out to do something extraordinary. The Changemakers are passionate about their companies and intuitively see how their businesses can positively impact the lives of employees and their communities. They combine a business sense with human empathy to create opportunities for others to improve their lives while also achieving the company’s business objectives. They want to make the world a better place to live and work.

We invite you to meet the Changemakers and to help us celebrate and support their collective efforts.