The rules of hiring are changing faster than most Utah companies can keep up with. Traditional degree requirements are falling away. Job descriptions that worked two years ago are now missing the mark. And the candidates you really need? They might not look anything like the people you hired last quarter.
Welcome to skills-based hiring—a shift that’s redefining how smart companies build teams in Utah’s unpredictable labor market. Whether you’re a CFO trying to fill critical finance roles or a COO scrambling to staff up for growth, understanding this trend isn’t optional anymore. It’s how you’ll stay competitive through 2026 and beyond.
Why Utah Companies Are Rethinking Traditional Hiring
Utah’s economy has always moved fast. From Silicon Slopes tech startups to Ogden’s advanced manufacturing plants and Salt Lake City’s expanding healthcare systems, our state attracts ambitious companies that need talent yesterday. But here’s the problem: the old playbook isn’t working.
Requiring a four-year degree for roles that don’t truly need one? You’re cutting out qualified candidates who could start contributing immediately. Waiting for someone with the exact job title from your industry? In Utah’s tight labor market, that person might not exist—or they’re already fielding three other offers.
Skills-based hiring flips the script. Instead of filtering for credentials and pedigree, you’re evaluating what people can actually do. Can they analyze financial data? Manage complex projects? Lead teams through transformation? Those capabilities matter more than where someone went to school or what their last job title was.
At PrincePerelson & Associates, we’ve watched this shift accelerate across every sector we serve. The companies winning the talent war in Utah aren’t the ones with the fanciest benefits packages. They’re the ones who’ve learned to identify skills that drive results—and hire for them strategically.
What Skills-Based Hiring Actually Means for Your Business
Let’s get practical. Skills-based hiring doesn’t mean throwing out all your hiring standards or ignoring experience. It means being more precise about what you actually need.
Take a controller position. The traditional approach demands a CPA, ten years of experience, and a specific industry background. A skills-based approach asks different questions: Does this person understand revenue recognition for our business model? Can they build financial processes that scale? Do they communicate complex data in ways that help executives make decisions?
When you frame hiring this way, your candidate pool expands dramatically. That finance leader who spent eight years at a high-growth startup? They might bring exactly the adaptability and strategic thinking you need—even if their background looks different from your outgoing controller.
This matters especially in Utah, where our labor market trends show persistent talent shortages in specialized roles. You’re competing not just with local companies but with remote opportunities from San Francisco, New York, and beyond. Skills-based hiring gives you an edge because you’re evaluating potential differently than your competitors.
The Executive Search Advantage in Skills-Based Hiring
Here’s where many Utah companies stumble: they embrace skills-based hiring in theory but don’t have the tools or networks to execute it well. That’s particularly true for leadership positions, where the stakes are highest and the candidate pool is smallest.
Executive search firms like PrincePerelson bring something critical to this new hiring model—the ability to look beyond resumes and spot transferable capabilities that predict success. We’ve placed CFOs who came from different industries but had the exact financial transformation skills our clients needed. We’ve found COOs with unconventional backgrounds who turned out to be perfect cultural fits with the strategic horsepower to drive growth.
The difference is in how we evaluate. While a standard recruiter might screen out candidates who don’t check traditional boxes, we’re trained to assess competencies, leadership attributes, and potential impact. We ask about how people think through problems, not just what they’ve done before. And because we’ve been embedded in Utah’s business community for over three decades, we understand which skills actually translate across industries here.
Labor Market Trends Shaping Utah’s Hiring Landscape
Understanding where Utah’s labor market is headed helps you make smarter hiring decisions now. Several trends are converging to make skills-based hiring not just smart but necessary:
Technology is reshaping every role. Even traditional positions in manufacturing, healthcare, and finance now require digital fluency. The accounting manager who can’t work with data analytics tools? They’re at a disadvantage. Skills-based hiring lets you assess these evolving capabilities directly.
Remote work changed the game. Utah companies now compete with employers everywhere for top talent. But it also means you can access skilled professionals outside the Wasatch Front. The question isn’t where someone is—it’s whether they have the skills to deliver.
Career paths are less linear. The best candidates often have diverse backgrounds that don’t fit neat categories. A marketing leader who spent time in operations might bring cross-functional insights that accelerate your growth. Skills-based hiring helps you see that value.
Talent mobility is higher than ever. People switch roles more frequently, which means waiting for the “perfect” candidate with ten years in your exact niche might mean waiting forever. Hiring for core competencies and providing targeted upskilling gets you productive team members faster.
Making Skills-Based Hiring Work for Your Organization
Shifting to a skills-based approach requires more than good intentions. Here’s how Utah’s most successful companies are making it happen:
Start by defining the skills that actually drive performance in each role. Work with your hiring managers to separate “must-haves” from “nice-to-haves.” Be honest about which requirements are truly essential versus historical preferences.
Update your job descriptions to emphasize capabilities and outcomes rather than credentials and years of experience. Instead of “MBA required,” try “demonstrated ability to develop data-driven business strategies.” You’ll attract a different—and often stronger—candidate pool.
Develop better assessment methods. Skills-based hiring means evaluating abilities through work samples, case studies, or structured interviews that reveal how people think and solve problems. This takes more effort upfront but dramatically improves hiring quality.
Partner with recruiters who understand this approach. At PrincePerelson & Associates, we’ve adapted our executive search and professional recruiting processes specifically for skills-based hiring. We know how to identify transferable capabilities, assess leadership potential, and connect you with candidates who might not find you through traditional channels.
The Utah Advantage: Local Expertise Meets Modern Hiring
Utah’s labor market has unique characteristics that make local expertise invaluable. Our state’s business-friendly environment attracts ambitious companies, but that also means competition for talent is fierce. Understanding regional nuances—from compensation expectations in different industries to which skills are in shortest supply—gives you a real advantage.
PrincePerelson has worked alongside Utah’s business leaders for over 30 years. We’ve seen economic cycles, industry shifts, and talent trends evolve. That perspective helps us guide clients toward hiring strategies that work not just in theory but in practice, in this specific market, right now.
Whether you need to fill a critical IT, marketing, or accounting role, or conduct a confidential executive search, we bring both modern methodology and deep Utah roots to every engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does skills-based hiring mean we should ignore education and experience entirely?
Not at all. Skills-based hiring means evaluating education and experience as indicators of capability rather than as absolute requirements. A degree might signal certain analytical skills, but it’s not the only way to demonstrate those abilities. The goal is to assess whether candidates have the competencies you need, however they acquired them.
Q: How do we evaluate skills effectively without behavioral assessments?
Focus on structured interviews that explore real scenarios and past problem-solving. Ask candidates to walk through specific challenges they’ve faced and how they approached them. Work samples and case studies also reveal capabilities better than traditional interview questions. Reference checks become more valuable when you ask references about specific skills and behaviors.
Q: Will skills-based hiring help us compete with larger companies for Utah talent?
Yes. Larger companies often have rigid credential requirements that smaller, more agile Utah businesses can sidestep. By focusing on skills and potential rather than pedigree, you can identify talented people that bigger competitors overlook. This is especially powerful in executive search, where the best candidate might come from an unexpected background.
Q: What labor market trends should Utah companies watch in 2026?
Key trends include continued talent mobility, increasing demand for hybrid technical and leadership skills, growing competition from remote employers, and evolving expectations around flexibility and career development. Companies that adapt their hiring to these realities—through skills-based approaches and strategic partnerships with executive search firms—will have significant advantages.
Final Thoughts
Utah’s labor market isn’t slowing down, and the old ways of hiring won’t keep pace. Skills-based hiring gives you a framework to find exceptional talent in unexpected places, build more diverse and capable teams, and stay competitive when every other company is fighting for the same people.
The shift requires thoughtfulness, better assessment methods, and often a recruiting partner who deeply understands both modern hiring practices and the Utah market. But the payoff is worth it: faster hires, better retention, and teams that drive real business results.
At PrincePerelson & Associates, we’re helping Utah companies navigate this transition every day. With three decades of local expertise and a commitment to finding talent that truly fits, we’re ready to help you rethink hiring for 2026 and beyond.
Ready to explore how skills-based hiring could transform your team? Connect with our recruiting experts today.