Springfield subcommittee weighs skills-based hiring ordinance to reduce degree barriers

Councilor Jose Delgado presented a draft skills-based hiring ordinance at a General Government subcommittee meeting of Springfield City, urging the city to evaluate candidates on skills and relevant experience instead of using bachelor's-degree requirements to screen applicants.

Delgado said the proposal was modeled on a Commonwealth of Massachusetts executive order that encourages skills-based hiring at the state level and in other employers. He said the measure is intended to expand access for residents and historically underrepresented groups who may lack college degrees but have relevant workplace training or certificates.

Human resources director Bill Mahoney and HR staff told the committee the city already uses experience substitutions in many job classes but flagged operational and legal limits for a local ordinance. Mahoney said the municipal workforce (excluding schools) numbers about 1,548 employees across roughly 573 job classifications and that roughly 237 classifications include a degree requirement. He added that about one-quarter of those degree-required classifications already permit experience to substitute for a degree. Mahoney also said that many public-safety and union-covered positions have distinct credential or licensure requirements that the city would not remove.

HR staff described how the city recruits and fills positions: HR refers applicants who meet minimum qualifications to departments; departments can request to see additional applicants at their discretion. Mahoney and others explained the personal review committee (PRC) and a waiver process used when recruiting fails to produce qualified Springfield residents, and they cautioned that changing job descriptions often triggers collective-bargaining negotiations for union positions.

Committee members raised practical issues and priorities. Councilor Catherine Walsh and others asked about veterans' preference; Mahoney said veterans' preference applies in civil-service categories such as police and fire, and residency preference is already part of some hiring lists. Several councilors asked whether diversity staff participate in hiring; HR said the chief diversity and inclusion officer may be added to hiring teams and sit in on interviews.

Members discussed workforce pipelines and internships. HR staff described existing partnerships with Putnam (career/technical education) and area colleges that supply interns to departments including DPW, fire and IT. Councilors suggested adding explicit internship or apprenticeship language to the ordinance to strengthen local hiring pathways.

Committee members also asked for more detail on hiring demand: HR reported 59 approved, actively recruiting city-side openings (excluding schools) and said the applicant tracking system has received roughly 2,400 applications since July 1 (date as stated by HR in the meeting). HR staff said the system does not produce a clean report linking applicants to Springfield residency without additional manual review, but HR can examine residency-question responses for metrics.

No vote or formal adoption occurred. Delgado said he will revise the draft to remove or rework provisions HR and the solicitor flagged (including language about submitting job-description changes to the city council and a reference to state HR guidance), meet with HR and the solicitor to refine language, and return the revised ordinance to the committee for further consideration.

The discussion highlighted three constraints for policy change: civil-service rules and veteran/residency preferences in statutorily governed positions; collective-bargaining requirements to change union job descriptions; and credential or licensure requirements for certain professional roles. Committee members signaled broad interest in reducing unnecessary barriers for line and seasonal jobs while preserving degree or licensure requirements for positions where they are essential.

Delgado closed the meeting by asking staff and the solicitor to work with him on redrafting; the committee agreed to revisit the item in committee before any chamber action.