Building a Common Language for Skills with Major US Employers

Starting in September 2024, the Burning Glass Institute has partnered with Walmart to host the Skills-First Working Group – bringing together a group of 11 of America’s largest employers to rigorously develop, test, and share a common language for skills. Together, we’ve helped build a shared language for how we define, develop, and deploy skills across roles employing millions of US workers.

At Skills-First.org, we’re proud to launch a set of common skill taxonomies, developed through the Skills-First Working Group. These taxonomies are a powerful tool to unlock opportunity. They provide real clarity on what it actually takes to do a job—build with the input from many of America’s largest and most iconic employers. Whether you're navigating career growth within a company or looking to enter a new field, this framework helps workers and employers see what’s possible and how to get there.

What makes this work different is that it’s employer-driven from the ground up. Every skill taxonomy carefully reviewed by a cross-industry group of employers who are on the front lines of workforce innovation. This isn’t an academic exercise—it’s built around what companies truly need in order to put skills to work inside their organizations:

• Clear, detailed views of the skills required in key roles,

• Common definitions of what a skill means, and what being more or less proficient in a skill entails,

• Critical market trend information to show what skills are most common in a role, what’s on the rise, and what can earn a premium in the market.

Our first release covers nine high-impact jobs that collectively represent more than 11 million US workers—and we’re actively expanding to cover 30 total roles in the months ahead.

Explore these skill taxonomies at skills-first.org.