Organizations across the country are struggling with a major workforce challenge: employers can’t find the talent they need, while millions of capable workers are overlooked by outdated hiring practices.

Skills for Chicago, a workforce development nonprofit, set out to change that. By partnering with Career Highways, the organization successfully transitioned employers toward a skills-based hiring model that removes unnecessary barriers and connects qualified candidates to meaningful jobs faster.

Customer Snapshot

Organization: Skills for Chicago
Industry: Workforce Development
Mission: Connecting overlooked talent with meaningful employment opportunities in a rapidly evolving labor market.

Skills for Chicago works with employers across the region to ensure capable candidates—often overlooked by traditional hiring systems—can access career opportunities and economic mobility.

The Challenge

Declining labor participation and rapidly evolving job roles have made it increasingly difficult for employers to find and retain the right talent.

At the same time, many hiring processes still rely on:

• Outdated job descriptions
• Arbitrary credential requirements
• Screening questions that filter out qualified candidates

While employers increasingly recognize the value of skills-based hiring, many struggle to implement it effectively within existing hiring systems.

Skills for Chicago needed a way to help employers:

• Identify real candidate skills
• Match candidates to multiple roles quickly
• Build consistent job frameworks across organizations
• Anticipate emerging workforce skill needs

The Solution

Skills for Chicago partnered with Career Highways to implement an AI-driven platform designed to power skills-based hiring at scale.

Key Capabilities

The platform enables organizations to:

• Identify candidate skills—including those often overlooked by traditional resumes
• Match candidates to multiple relevant roles quickly and accurately
• Analyze skills gaps and workforce needs
• Create consistent job frameworks across employers

Technology Platform

The solution is powered by an integrated technology stack including:

• Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Salesforce Sales Cloud
• Salesforce Data Cloud & Analytics

These tools support:

• Candidate qualification
• Community management
• Recruiting workflows
• Workforce market intelligence

The platform is enhanced by Career Highways’ AI-driven skills mapping and career pathway tools, enabling faster candidate matching and clearer career progression insights.

The Impact

By shifting employers toward a true skills-based hiring model, Skills for Chicago dramatically improved candidate matching and hiring outcomes.

Key Results

• 40% faster candidate matching
• 70+ community partners engaged
• 1,000+ individuals placed into jobs
• 84% long-term retention rate
• $25M+ in annualized wages generated

The platform enabled employers to rapidly adopt skills-based hiring practices while improving both hiring efficiency and long-term employee success.

Transformational Outcomes

The partnership delivered immediate and long-term benefits:

• Rapid shift to skills-based hiring practices
• Reduced hiring barriers for overlooked talent
• Faster candidate matching and placement
• Consistent job frameworks across employers
• Improved visibility into emerging skill gaps

Customer Perspective

“Career Highways is going to transform how you do HR. Almost overnight, you can shift to skills-based hiring for real. You can create consistent jobs and roles, identify skills gaps, manage your talent, and even identify how AI will impact your team.”

Bridget Altenburg
CEO, Skills for Chicago

Ready to Remove Hiring Barriers?

Career Highways helps organizations adopt skills-based hiring that expands access to talent, improves matching speed, and drives stronger workforce outcomes.

👉 Book a strategy session to learn how Career Highways can transform your hiring strategy.