11/01/2025
Stagility: A Skills-Based Strategy for a Stable and Agile Workforce
By Safaa Amer
The Employment Landscape
Today’s job market is defined by tension. TestGorilla (2025) highlighted that 63% of employers report difficulty finding talent, while 70% of job seekers say it is harder than usual to land a job. A recent strategy adopted by employers to address the shortage and widen the applicant pools is shifting to skills-based hiring and moving away from a qualifications list based on educational degrees. To meet the current job market demands, “stagility” – a blend of “stability” and “agility” – provides a practical framework for both employers and job seekers to navigate skills-first hiring, reskilling, and the future of work. This marks a pivotal moment for career professionals to guide clients and organizations through an evolving landscape.
What is Stagility?
Stagility captures a growing need in the workforce to maintain reliable structures with the right mix of people, roles, and skills that allow organizations to achieve their goals (e.g., workforce composition, job architecture, skills framework, workforce planning, culture, and technology). Such a structure is based on clear job descriptions, relevant skills, and expertise needed for each role. However, it also needs to remain flexible enough to respond to change. It reflects a dual priority, preserving core operations while staying ready to pivot, and is driven by:
- Technological disruption such as AI, machine learning, and automation, which are reshaping job requirements (Paradis, 2024)
- Changing employee expectations, where workers are prioritizing flexibility, values alignment, and growth opportunities
- Global market volatility, leading organizations to continuously adapt to evolving risks and opportunities
Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends Report (2025) painted a clear picture where 75% of workers seek more stability, and 85% of business leaders believe organizations need more agile ways of working. In parallel, the World Economic Forum Report (2025) revealed that 70% of employers are hiring based on new skill sets and 66% are actively seeking AI competencies.
Stagility becomes a guiding principle in this dynamic environment, which demands a flexible workforce that is stable at the core but ready for what comes next. For employers, it means creating a talent strategy that values adaptable and skills-driven workers (Sigelman et al., 2024). For job seekers, it elevates the need to showcase their transferable skills rather than relying solely on credentials. For career practitioners, it involves proactively working with job seekers to identify areas where upskilling and reskilling are needed to remain relevant and employable.
Employers are Putting Stagility into Practice
Forward-thinking organizations are already putting stagility into practice. For example, Microsoft (Boyd, 2025) maintains strong internal training structures (stability) while continually adapting roles and skills to meet emerging tech demands (agility). A product manager might be hired for core strengths like leadership or data analysis and then reskilled into AI competencies as the company evolves. This internal development approach helps organizations to avoid over-reliance on external hiring, reduce talent gaps, and build a more resilient and loyal workforce. According to ThriveSparrow (n.d.), organizations that prioritize stagility are better equipped to thrive in uncertainty while maintaining operational continuity.
In addition, a wide range of employers are moving away from strict degree requirements in favor of demonstrated abilities and experience, with an increasing shift to skills-based hiring (Bushey, 2024). TestGorilla’s 2025 report found that 53% of employers have dropped degree requirements and 85% are using skills-based hiring models (TestGorilla, 2025). Industries leading the way for skills-based hiring include tech, trades, customer service, and public sector roles. In 2024, 25 states including Massachusetts, Maryland, and Pennsylvania removed degree requirements from government jobs to widen their talent pools (National Governors Association, 2025).
This shift is driven by pressures faced within the labor market. This includes talent shortages, inefficiency in the use of degrees for filtering job applicants (Peterson et al., 2024), and emerging industries like green jobs and AI (Gonzalez & Stephany 2024).
Skills-based hiring results in better hiring outcomes and more inclusive hiring. Statistics show that 90% of companies report fewer hiring mistakes when using skills-first hiring, and 94% of these companies say skill-based hires outperform degree-based hires (Pong, 2024). Skills-based approaches also open doors for self-taught workers and career changers, widening the pool of applicants (Gandall, 2024). However, it is important to note that degrees still matter in highly regulated fields like medicine, law, and engineering.
Practical Strategies for Career Professionals
As skills-based hiring takes hold, career professionals play a critical role in helping clients and organizations develop stagility in a job market where adaptability and skills matter more than ever. The following strategies can strengthen coaching practice, empower job seekers, and support organizations:
- Support Internal Mobility - Career professionals can work with their clients to identify transferable skills and facilitate reskilling for new roles within an organization. This proactive approach boosts retention and business continuity.
- Personalize Upskilling Paths - Effective workforce learning must align with both business needs and employee goals. Career professionals can help their clients design development plans that make upskilling relevant and achievable.
- Promote Future-Ready Career Planning - Career professionals can help individuals map their skills to emerging opportunities, not just traditional job titles. This mindset encourages agility and adaptability in career planning.
- Leverage Skills-Based Tools - Practitioners can incorporate assessments, digital portfolios, and AI powered career platforms into coaching sessions. This helps clients showcase competencies and align with technologies used for hiring (Gupta & Kaushik, 2024).
- Harness AI and Build AI Literacy - Career professionals can demystify the way hiring platforms screen for skills, guide their clients to optimize resumes and profiles, and introduce AI tools for job search, career exploration, and upskilling.
Stagility for Building Meaningful and Resilient Careers
The most effective strategies today blend credentials with demonstrated competencies – an approach that values both education and skills. For career professionals, this shift underscores an opportunity to lead. By embracing stagility, they can help clients build careers that are both meaningful and resilient while supporting organizations in achieving their aspirations. This renders stagility as a powerful concept in which career professionals can strengthen their role as trusted guides in shaping the workforce of the future.
References
Boyd, K. (2025, July 31). The future of work is here: Transforming our employee experience with AI. Microsoft.com. https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/the-future-of-work-is-here-transforming-our-employee-experience-with-ai/
Bushey, C. (2024, Nov. 20). No degree, no problem: US employers look beyond college credentials. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/2c2558fe-fc6e-4a92-b54a-c78aede7336b
Deloitte. (2025, April 3). Stagility: Creating stability for workers for organizations to move at speed. Insights2Action. https://action.deloitte.com/insight/4440/stagility-creating-stability-for-workers-for-organizations-to-move-at-speed
Gandall, M. (2024, May 8). The promise and peril of the skills-based hiring movement. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgandal/2024/05/08/the-promise-and-peril-of-the-skills-based-hiring-movement/
Gonzalez, E., & Stephany, F. (2024, February 25). Skills or degree? The rise of skill-based hiring for AI and green jobs. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4603764
Gupta, N., & Kaushik, V. (2024). Skills based hiring in contemporary job market using artificial intelligence. Futuristic Trends in Management. IIP Series, Volume 3, Book 20, Part 1, Chapter 3. https://iipseries.org/assets/docupload/rsl202405B923503178853.pdf
National Governors Association (2025, Feb. 6). Empowering progress: Harnessing skills-based strategies to drive public sector excellence. https://www.nga.org/publications/empowering-progress-harnessing-skills-based-strategies-to-drive-public-sector-excellence/
Paradis, T. (2024, Aug. 28). AI will reshape the global labor force. Employers will need to help their workers keep up. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-will-change-most-jobs-employers-help-workers-keep-up-2024-8#:~:text=For%20advanced%20economies%2C%20the%20share,that%20will%20need%20widespread%20retraining
Peterson, E. K., Douglas, D., & Van Noy, M. (2024, February). The growth of skills-based hiring: An exploration of evidence from six states. Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations. https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/Centers/EERC/Skills-Based%20Hiring_EERC_Feb2024.pdf
Pong, C. (2024, Dec. 26). 90% of companies make better hires based on skills over degrees. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/cynthiapong/2024/12/26/90-of-companies-make-better-hires-based-on-skills-over-degrees/
Sigelman, M., Fuller, J., & Martin, A. (2024, February) Skills-based hiring: The long road from pronouncements to practice. Burning Glass Institute. https://action.deloitte.com/insight/4440/stagility-creating-stability-for-workers-for-organizations-to-move-at-speedsed+Hiring+02122024+vF.pdf
TestGorilla. (2025). The state of skills-based hiring 2025 report. https://www.testgorilla.com/skills-based-hiring/state-of-skills-based-hiring-2025/#sbhr-section-container-0
ThriveSparrow. (n.d.). What stagility means for hr and employee experience. https://www.thrivesparrow.com/hr-glossary/stagility
World Economic Forum. (2025, January). The future of jobs report 2025. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/
Safaa R. Amer, PhD, is a C-suite policy advisor and career development professional with expertise in data analytics, AI integration, and economic research to empower people and organizations globally. Dr. Amer has led multidisciplinary initiatives across government, academia, Fortune 500 companies, and international organizations. She has guided teams through transformation, uncertainty, and innovation with focus on building capacity. Dr. Amer is passionate about bridging data-driven insights with human-centered coaching to prepare diverse talent for the future of work. Connect with her at linkedin.com/in/safaa-r-amer/ or Safaa.R.Amer@gmail.com.