At the time of this writing in June 2024, the United States is at near full employment. The most significant national human resource development challenge going forward will be to identify qualified workers (and potentials). But how? Through a strong national qualifications framework, or NQF.

Currently, the US has a weak NQF. In other words, very little of it (primarily higher education degrees) is commonly accepted and recognized in any coordinated way. However, we know that career workers can become qualified—and increase their qualifications—in numerous ways outside of the higher education system. But currently, it’s haphazard and difficult for both employers and employees to navigate and understand.

The nation could, if it chose to, take a more governed approach to the qualifications framework. Some limited intervention may bring about desired results, especially if it is: A) targeted to specific, critical disciplines, and B) allows the free market to continue to provide the country’s robust, diverse, and accessible qualifications system. This has been done elsewhere. For example, Singapore industrialized through a managed economy, including a managed education and training approach with an NQF. To accomplish this, we might consider implementing a strong qualifications framework, one focused on specific sectors of the economy.

The military already does an amazing job of this. It identifies qualified candidates to enlist through aptitude testing and interest interviews—“qualified” not just in a general sense, but specific to the particular job specialties each service needs to fill. Then, each service trains their recruits in those specialties through learning, training, and career development. Not just at their initial entry, but throughout their careers as they develop greater responsibilities, or in other words, “cradle to grave” career development.

The nation could do this as well. Creating and maintaining career development ladders employers and workers will find useful—and help them find each other! These ladders will also integrate the current higher education system, as well as add new, universally recognized qualifications. Workers would know what is required to move up their career ladders, while employers could recognize potential and current employees who have done so—or could. And providers would be able to focus on the demands of both the present and the future. But who would bring it about? It will take a coalition of interested parties.

A national qualifications framework is typically managed by the government. This would be done in partnership with employers, workers, professional organizations, and tertiary education and training institutions (universities, trade schools, and training companies, for example). This coalition would not only establish the NQF but manage it and keep it current as well.

So, why do this at all? If we’re currently so good at getting people employed—“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right? Wrong. Yes, we’re currently experiencing low levels of unemployment. But that puts more pressure on employers to find qualified workers. And when unemployment inevitably increases, the pressure will be on workers to impress potential employers during their job hunts. An effective NQF brings these forces into greater harmony, benefiting everyone involved.

If this is such a great idea, why isn’t it happening? Well, we can blame our laissez-faire approach to capitalism for some of it. But the truth is, there is work afoot to address this issue. Currently, there are approximately 150 nations around the world with qualifications frameworks. (Obviously, the US is not one of them.) There is one private organization, the United States Qualifications Framework (usqf.org), attempting to get the dialog started. Eventually, however, the main driver in establishing an NQF for the United States must be the federal government.

While it’s too much to expect an NQF to transform an economy as large and robust as we have in the United States, implementing such a system could build a stronger coalition between employers, providers, and the workforce, which will be a boon for all concerned.