Learning and Employment Records: The Vision, the Reality, and the Path Workers Need in 2024

Learning and Employment Records (LERs) represent one of the most ambitious ideas in the future of work: a structured, interoperable, learner-owned record that captures everything a person knows and can do, verified and portable across education, employment, and life.

But while the vision of LERs is powerful, the reality in 2024 is that the ecosystem is still taking shape. Standards are maturing, but full interoperability remains incomplete. Employers are curious, but workflows still rely heavily on résumés and legacy applicant tracking systems. Educators want to adopt skills-oriented models, but their data systems aren’t yet designed for granular, portable skills evidence.

So the question becomes:

How do we make LERs useful for workers today, while still building toward the transformative system we all envision for the future?

To answer that, we need to revisit the original vision of LERs—and then take a practical look at the path toward realizing it.

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The Vision of LERs: A Rich, Dynamic Record of Skills, Evidence, and Growth

LERs were conceived as a universal digital record that follows the learner across their lifetime, capturing:

• Skills and competencies, not just job titles or degrees
• Formal and informal learning experiences
• Workplace achievements, supported by evidence
• Personalized growth pathways, tied to interests and career goals
• Verified credentials, organized in a consistent, machine-readable structure

In the ideal LER ecosystem:

1. Skills become the currency of opportunity

LERs allow individuals to represent their abilities in far greater detail than a résumé ever could, leveling the playing field for people without traditional degrees or linear career paths.

2. Learning pathways become personalized and adaptive

As individuals identify skill gaps or emerging interests, LER-connected tools help them find courses, experiences, and credentials that advance their goals.

3. Talent matching becomes more accurate and inclusive

Instead of filtering candidates by keywords or degree requirements, employers can search for real competencies, evidence, and mastery.

This is the future the LER community has been working toward for years.
But getting there requires infrastructure that is still under construction.

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The Roadmap to LER Realization: Progress and Persistent Gaps

The movement has achieved meaningful progress—new standards, pilot programs, proofs of concept, and collaborative networks. But several challenges still slow widespread adoption:

1. Interoperability remains incomplete

Multiple standards now exist, but true plug-and-play interoperability across education, credential issuers, and employers has not yet been realized.
LERs can’t achieve their full potential until systems speak a shared language.

2. Privacy and data stewardship require constant vigilance

As talent data becomes richer and more detailed, the ecosystem must clarify:

• What data individuals truly control
• How sharing permissions work
• How to prevent misuse
• How to ensure portability without compromising security

Protocols exist, but adoption and enforcement are inconsistent.

3. Equity remains aspirational without accessibility

LERs aim to democratize opportunity—but without simple, low-barrier tools, individuals with fewer resources risk being left behind.

4. Employer readiness is uneven

Most employers still rely on existing workflows:

• PDFs and résumés
• Keyword-based ATS filters
• Legacy job-posting structures

Until employers can use skills and evidence-rich data, LERs remain underutilized.

These realities create a gap between the exciting future of LERs and the lived experience of workers today.

That gap must be bridged—intentionally.

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What Workers Need in 2024: Practical, Transitional, Immediately Useful Tools

Workers can’t wait for the perfect LER ecosystem to emerge.
They need tools that help them navigate the labor market right now.

That means the LER community must shift from theoretical idealism to practical implementation.

1. Build Bridge Technology for Existing Job Systems

LERs must be usable within current employer workflows.
This includes technologies that:

• Convert structured LER data into résumé-friendly representations
• Map skills to job descriptions
• Integrate with ATS systems employers already rely on
• Translate LER elements into formats hiring managers understand

Bridge technologies allow workers to benefit from LERs today while creating pressure for systems to evolve.

2. Provide User-Friendly, Worker-First Tools

For LERs to be meaningful, individuals need tools that make it easy to:

• Compile learning and experiences
• Add evidence and credentials
• Understand their skills
• Share their record confidently
• Control who sees what

These tools must be simple, intuitive, and accessible to people regardless of tech literacy or background.

3. Deliver Education and Guidance, Not Just Data Structures

LERs represent a new way of thinking about skills.
Workers need practical instruction on:

• How to read and interpret their LER
• How to use it to apply for jobs
• How to identify next-step learning opportunities
• How to leverage skills language in interviews and applications

Without human guidance, even the best LER tools risk being underutilized.

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The Bottom Line: The Vision Is Bold, but Workers Need Value Today

The LER vision is achievable—and necessary.
But it will take years for the full ecosystem to mature.

In the meantime, the LER movement must prioritize:

• Bridge solutions, not just future standards
• Usability, not just interoperability
• Worker empowerment, not just innovation
• Immediate utility, not just long-term transformation

If we want LERs to change the job market, the first step is helping workers succeed right now, with tools that fit into today’s hiring systems while preparing everyone for a more transparent, skills-driven future.

The work is not simply to dream the future of records—it is to build the scaffolding that helps people reach it.