A headshot of Matt Latimer next to text about skills-based hiring challenges and the public sector's role in improving it.

Insights

Governing: Skills-Based Hiring Isn’t Working. The Public Sector Can Turn It Around.

Matt Latimer

Key Takeaway

In this op-ed for Governing, Matt Latimer argues that innovative wage subsidy programs and supportive public‑private partnerships are essential to realizing the promise of skills‑based hiring and helping workers without degrees demonstrate their abilities to employers.

In this op-ed, Matt Latimer explains why skills-based hiring has fallen short and highlights how public-sector innovation can help it achieve its promise. He points to San Antonio’s Ready to Work “working interviews” and Los Angeles County’s Transitional Subsidized Employment Program as examples of wage subsidies and wraparound supports that help trained workers demonstrate their abilities and secure good jobs.

Read the op-ed on Governing’s website →

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Social Finance Impact First Fund 2025 Annual Report
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Social Finance Impact First Fund 2025 Annual Report

This report includes an overview of the Fund's impact objectives and strategy, profiles of our portfolio investments and their 2025 impact highlights, and an update on Social Finance's field-building activities.