Executive Directive 2026-3: Expanding State Employment Opportunities for Michiganders
Key claim: Michigan Governor’s Executive Directive 2026-3 requires all executive department agencies to adopt skills-based hiring practices that evaluate candidates on demonstrated competencies from any pathway, not solely formal academic credentials.
Abstract
Executive Directive 2026-3: Expanding State Employment Opportunities for Michiganders News State Orders and Directives May 13, 2026 State employees bring value to their jobs through a combination of experience, skills, and academic qualifications. But skills have not always received the attention they deserve in hiring. Experiences obtained in prior employment, military service, on-the-job training, registered apprenticeships, internships, and national service programs, for example, equip applicants to succeed. When the most skilled individuals work for state government, Michigan wins. In recent years, many employers have come to appreciate the value in skills-based hiring: the practice of evaluating and selecting job candidates based, in part, on the competencies they can demonstrate. Studies have shown that skills-based hiring better predicts successful job performance and creates a more resilient and versatile workforce. Moreover, skills-based hiring can increase access to quality jobs for non-traditional candidates and reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment. By recognizing competencies gained through both formal education and alternative pathways, skills-based hiring affirms the value of higher education while ensuring that Michiganders who have gained skills through other means can have a meaningful path to employment, as well. As Michigan’s largest employer, the State of Michigan must continue to modernize its hiring practices and policies and enhance its recruitment and retention efforts for state employees. Our state workforce should be as talented, representative, capable, and resilient as the people it serves. Skills-based hiring is one tool to reach this end. Section 1 of article 5 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963 vests the executive power of the State of Michigan in the governor. Section 8 of article 5 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963 places each principal department under the supervision of the governor. Acting under the Michigan Constitution of 1963 and Michigan law, I direct the following: 1. All executive department offices and agencies are directed to use skills-based employment practices in their efforts to attract, recruit, hire, retain, and develop the careers of talented employees. In making hiring decisions, hiring managers must consider the full set of competencies that candidates bring to the job. Hiring managers are directed to align job requirements and position prerequis
Why this matters
Executive Directive 2026-3 shifts how Michigan state government hires its workforce, potentially opening executive-branch jobs to candidates without four-year degrees — including veterans, apprenticeship completers, and career changers — while directing agencies to rewrite position prerequisites around demonstrated competencies. Because it operates via executive directive rather than statute, it applies only to executive department agencies and can be modified by future governors. Its practical impact will depend on how quickly agencies revise job postings, classifications, and screening criteria.