So far this year, just under 61,000 jobs have been added to the economy on average each month. That’s roughly half of the monthly averages in 2024 — as well as the 80 years before the pandemic.
At the same time, certain industries are experiencing talent gaps. Many employers report new graduates don’t arrive at the workplace with the skills necessary to do their jobs, and openings for jobs that require little or no experience have fallen dramatically.
Real-world experience can help candidates stand out in a tight labor market and give employers confidence that new hires come equipped with the right expertise. But developing this experience often requires work-based learning (WBL) opportunities like internships, which can be time-intensive and costly for employers to manage. That’s why project-based learning, a form of experiential learning embedded directly into the curriculum, is on the rise.
Why project-based learning is gaining traction
The current “low-hire, low-fire” job market has employers hesitant to hire amid growing economic uncertainty, soaring inflation, and volatile policy and geopolitical developments. While many employers are hanging on to their existing employees, the market is tough for job seekers, especially those who have recently graduated or retrained.
As the skills gap widens, employers appear to be prioritizing hiring seasoned talent over candidates with no experience. According to recent data from the hiring platform Cadient, the share of salaried jobs open to candidates with no experience has fallen 73% in four years. Inexperienced candidates now qualify for just one in 50 openings, down from one in 15 in 2022.
The market is shifting in other ways, too. Jobs like medical billing specialists, HVAC technicians, IT support specialists, warehouse operators, and logistics coordinators represent a rising segment of the labor market. These are the types of roles where hands-on experience is increasingly required of new hires.
It’s clear that relevant, real-world experience — not just the theoretical skills taught in a classroom — continues to be a differentiator for job applicants. But getting that experience isn’t easy.
Traditional work-based learning opportunities like internships and apprenticeships require significant oversight from employers and a substantial time commitment from participants. Add to that the little — or no — pay these experiences often offer, and it’s easy to understand why internships are frequently held by the students with the most financial means. For community college students, who disproportionately represent first-generation students, adult learners, and people balancing jobs and caregiving, the demands of an internship are often prohibitive.
Project-based learning (PBL) takes a different approach. Instead of requiring employers to build internship programs and students to commit their time outside the classroom, PBL builds real business cases and employer challenges directly into coursework. Participating organizations collaborate with community colleges to develop actual business problems, such as analyzing data, shaping strategy, and building out plans.
Because the projects are embedded directly into the curriculum, employers don’t need to oversee internship programs and students don't need to rework their schedules or take on unpaid work outside of class.
How employers benefit from project-based learning
In addition to providing more flexibility to students, project-based learning has many advantages for participating employers:
Meets their unique needs: By playing a role in shaping PBL curriculum, employers ensure students are gaining the exact experience needed to work at their companies.
Access to a steady talent pipeline: Developing stronger ties with local community colleges creates a strong pathway for students to go on and work at participating organizations.
Supports skills-first hiring initiatives: By prioritizing real-world experience and demonstration of competency over credentials, employers can better meet their skills-based hiring goals.
Flexible, lower commitment: Because it’s embedded directly into curriculum, PBL requires significantly less time, oversight, and resources from employers.
More diverse candidate pool: PBL is inherently more accessible to a broader group of students than traditional WBL opportunities like internships, meaning employers gain access to more diverse candidates — with the experience needed to excel.
The labor market has made one thing clear: real-world experience is no longer optional for job seekers. But it shouldn't be inaccessible either. Project-based learning gives employers a low-lift way to shape the talent pipeline they need, while giving students — especially those who can't afford the cost of an unpaid internship — a genuine shot at building the experience employers are looking for. As the skills gap widens and hiring bars rise, PBL provides a model that works for both sides of the table: employers get better-prepared candidates, and students get a fair path to prove they're ready.
Learn more about the Workforce Futures Accelerator — ACCT's partnership with Riipen and Worcester Polytechnic Institute — that embeds virtual, project-based learning into programs at 14 community colleges nationwide, transforming classrooms into a bridge to employment and economic opportunity.
