If we want to change how people prove their skills and find jobs, and how employers identify and advance talent, we need a system that makes skill records digital, verifiable, and easy to share. The good news is, we’re already on our way. But to truly make this work, we need to bring together education providers, workforce trainers, employers, and technology developers to create an ecosystem where Learning and Employment Records (LERs) are useful, trustworthy, and accessible to everyone.

Right now, when someone learns a new skill, whether in a classroom, on the job, or through a training program, there’s no simple, standardized way to prove it. That’s where digital records come in. Imagine a world where every skill you acquire is stored in a secure digital wallet that you control. That’s the vision we’re working toward.

Key Steps to Building This System

1. Issuing Digital Records

Education providers, training organizations, and employers must issue verifiable digital records that provide detailed insights into skill proficiency. These records should reflect both formal education and on-the-job training.

2. Empowering Individuals with Digital Wallets

Job seekers need a secure place to store and manage their records, integrating them into a single profile with data ownership. With these wallets, individuals can easily share verified skills with potential employers, making job applications more transparent and effective.

3. Ensuring Interoperability

Career platforms, HR technology, and education tools must work together seamlessly. Job boards, hiring platforms, and workforce systems need to adopt common standards so employers can access a complete and accurate picture of candidates’ skills.

Promising Signs

Building Momentum with Stakeholders

A growing number of coalitions are working to promote LER adoption. Key players include the National Governors Association, the Digital Credentials Consortium at MIT, the LER Accelerator hosted by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions, and the U.S. Chamber Foundation T3 Innovation Network. Each coalition represents different stakeholders, helping to build industry support and overcome implementation challenges. These groups are instrumental in ensuring that LERs gain traction and are more widely understood and used by education providers and employers.

Optimizing Data for Maximum Value

To unlock the full potential of LERs, all skills, credentials, and learning experiences must be documented in digital records. Ensuring data accuracy and completeness is a top priority. Stakeholders across education, workforce development, and human resources must refine how they capture, standardize, and integrate skills data. By creating richer, more detailed records, individuals and employers alike will gain access to a more accurate, useful representation of workforce capabilities.

Regional Demonstrations Underway

Several states are taking the lead in testing and refining LER-based digital ecosystems. These initiatives involve collaboration between training providers, employers, and technology developers to experiment with how digital credentials can be integrated into hiring and career development processes. One promising effort supports veterans transitioning from military service, ensuring they can document their military-acquired skills in a way that translates to civilian careers. Another major initiative, launched in partnership with Goodwill, is focused on helping community members access and use digital credentials for job opportunities and career advancement. These pilot programs provide valuable insights into the technical and practical challenges of widespread LER adoption.

Enhancing User Experience through Interoperability

Interoperability remains a crucial factor in making LERs widely usable. In summer 2025, a major public-private partnership led by Jobs for the Future will bring together key stakeholders for a veterans LER credential portability demonstration event designed to test and refine how LERs function in practice. Participants can receive digital records, transfer them to their preferred digital wallets, and upload them to career-focused platforms. This hands-on approach will help identify friction points and ensure that the system works smoothly for users at every level, from job seekers to employers.

Making Technology Accessible

Technology providers and standards organizations are actively refining the core infrastructure needed for LERs to function at scale. Standards bodies such as 1EdTech and HR-Open have been working to create and refine the data structures required for interoperability. At the same time, open-source credential issuers developed by groups like the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC) at MIT and Digital Promise are making it easier for institutions to participate. DCC has also developed an open-source digital wallet, while the U.S. Chamber Foundation is developing additional tools expected to be tested in 2025. These efforts are crucial in ensuring that LERs are both technically sound and widely accessible.

The Road Ahead

The momentum is undeniable. If we get this right, we’ll create a system where individuals own and control their learning records, employers can find talent based on real skills, and career navigation becomes more personalized and effective.