The Hidden Ladder: Why Skipping Foundational Knowledge Is Sabotaging Workforce”

“We found that many skills aren't just complementary—they're interdependent in a directional way, acting as prerequisites for others, snowballing layer over layer to get to more specialized knowledge.” 

“Skills that are more closely aligned with the nested hierarchy require longer education, command higher wage premiums, and are less likely to be automated."

Without strong foundations, specialized skills deliver diminished returns.

Context

Organizations struggle to find talent that meets rising technical demands in an increasingly specialized economy. However, emerging research reveals that specialized skills rely on foundational ones in structured, sequential ways.

Recent research published in Nature Human Behavior reveals that advanced professional skills often depend on foundational knowledge, creating structured pathways that influence wage inequality, career mobility, and workforce development.  In other words, skills aren’t simply collected like items on a checklist—they build upon each other in structured, dependent hierarchies that fundamentally reshape how we should approach talent strategy. This finding has significant implications for organizations seeking to attract, develop, and retain talent in a polarizing job market.

The study mapped dependency relationships between workplace skills, analyzing data from over 70 million job transitions and U.S. workplace surveys. Lead author Moh Hosseinioun explains, “We found that many skills aren't just complementary—they're interdependent in a directional way, acting as prerequisites for others, snowballing layer over layer to get to more specialized knowledge.” 

The co-author, Hyejin Youn, employs an ecological metaphor: "It's like a succession model in ecology—acquiring complex skills requires a sequence of prerequisites." Just as complex ecosystems rely on foundational organisms to create conditions for specialized life, cognitive development unfolds in layers. "Basic educational skills are the cognitive equivalent of early organisms, creating conditions in the mental ecosystem for higher-order reasoning to emerge,"

The concept of nested skill hierarchies suggests that career progression follows a path dependency, much like educational milestones, where mastering calculus depends on algebra, or becoming a nurse practitioner hinges on clinical experience and communication skills. Understanding this layered structure enables organizations to rethink hiring strategies, invest in core competencies, and mitigate long-term wage inequalities, opportunities, and organizational effectiveness.

Credit: ChatGPT4.0

Why This Matters to Organizations

The recognition of nested skill hierarchies carries profound implications. The research found that "skills that are more closely aligned with the nested hierarchy require longer education, command higher wage premiums, and are less likely to be automated."

Interestingly, "the substantial wage premiums associated with nested specializations are much reduced after controlling for general skill levels, implying that the bulk of investments in and returns to specialization are conditional on accumulating general skills." Without strong foundations, specialized skills deliver diminished returns.

This phenomenon is accelerating. The research indicates that "the nested structure in job skills has become more pronounced over the past two decades," potentially leading to "a possible increase in job polarization as longer, deeper, and more complex sequences of prerequisites may hinder newcomers."

As Youn warns, "The more we become specialized and nested, the more inequality and disparity across the labor market will occur."

The implications for talent acquisition are significant. If "time-to-proficiency" for complex roles increases due to more prerequisite steps, organizations may need to invest more substantially in early-career talent and implement structured development programs that explicitly build nested skills over time.

The finding that nested skills are less susceptible to automation offers a nuanced perspective on workforce resilience. The depth and interconnectedness of skills, built through sequential learning, provide a durable buffer against automation, not simply whether work is "cognitive" or "non-routine."

Illustrative trend showing increasing skill nestedness, based on research findings

Created using Gemini Infographic

The Foundational Imperative

Basic educational skills emerge as the unacknowledged icon in skill development. Without this fertile "cognitive soil,” higher-order reasoning cannot effectively take root.

This directly challenges common approaches to talent development, such as speedy, isolated reskilling programs. The research cautions that quick 'reskilling' programs may have limited effectiveness without investment in foundational skills.

Similarly, “moves by universities to remove foundational courses in favor of immediately applicable skills could have unintended consequences for graduates.” While the pressure for "job-ready" graduates is understandable, focusing solely on immediately marketable skills might undermine long-term career adaptability.

Access to foundational skills is linked to systemic disparities. The research highlights that “those unable to access education for foundational skills face barriers to entering higher-wage career paths.” Detailed analysis reveals "disparities in skill alignment across genders and racial/ethnic groups," with Black and Hispanic workers often having job requirements with lower levels of nested skills.

A lack of foundational skills creates a "compounding deficit." Because skills build upon one another, weakness in one foundational skill cascades through the entire learning sequence, potentially explaining why some individuals struggle to advance despite earnest efforts.

The table provides a comparative overview of different skill structures and their associated labor market implications.

Created with Gemini 2.5 Pro

This chart conceptually illustrates the advantages of nested skills compared to more isolated ones across key labor market indicators. Created using Gemini Infographic

Strategic Talent Management for Nested Skills

The principles of nested skill hierarchies demand evolution in nearly every facet of talent management:

Reimagined Recruitment

Shift from narrow keyword matching toward holistic assessment of foundational strengths and learning agility. Seek evidence of sequential learning in a candidate's history, even if that learning occurred in different domains.

Sequential Learning & Development

Design training programs that explicitly map out and build skills in a prerequisite-based sequence. Integrate foundational skill reinforcement within technical training rather than treating them as separate activities.

Reality-Based Career Pathing

Develop career lattices demonstrating how foundational and intermediate skills grant access to specialized roles. Make these pathways visible and easy to navigate.

Growth-Based Retention

Create environments where employees see clear paths to acquiring deeper, more valuable skills. Recognition systems should acknowledge isolated skills and successful navigation of skill-building sequences.

Recognize the value of "skill adjacency"—since skills are acquired sequentially, candidates whose existing skills are "adjacent" in the hierarchy to target skills are better positioned to learn efficiently.

Created using Gemini Infographic

 The AI Future: Opportunity or Challenge

Artificial Intelligence introduces complex dynamics into skill hierarchies. As Hosseinioun frames it: "Large language models are unprecedented in how they target fundamental skills. Is this an opportunity, where some layers of the hierarchy might be condensed? Or, if we outsource those fundamental skills, will we become unable to learn more advanced skills?"

Despite AI advancements, the value of deep human specialization built upon robust foundational skills will likely increase. As AI handles routine tasks, the premium on uniquely human capabilities—integrating knowledge across multiple layers, innovating in ambiguous contexts, applying fine judgment—will become more pronounced.

A promising model may be the "centaur" approach, where humans leverage AI to augment their skills. AI could manage lower-level tasks within a skill hierarchy, freeing professionals to focus on higher-level integration and strategic thinking.

However, if we consistently outsource tasks that build fundamental abilities, we risk "deskilling." This presents a crucial consideration: how to integrate AI without undermining the development of core human capabilities.

In this landscape, "meta-skills" become paramount—abilities like "learning to learn," advanced critical thinking, and systems thinking enable navigation through increasingly complex skill hierarchies throughout careers.

Created with Gemini 2.5 Pro Infographic

Recommendations

For Managers:

• Diagnose Skill Foundations: Look beyond current task proficiency to assess foundational skills that underpin the ability to develop specialized expertise.

• Coach for Sequential Growth: Work with team members to identify prerequisites for their career aspirations and provide assignments that build skills layer by layer.

• Champion Foundational Learning: Advocate for resources to strengthen core competencies, even when not directly tied to immediate tasks.

• Foster a "Mastery" Mindset: Encourage deep learning over superficial acquisition of many disconnected skills.

For Human Capital Professionals:

• Revamp Job Descriptions: Articulate foundational requirements and developmental pathways leading to proficiency.

• Broaden Assessment Methods: Implement tools evaluating foundational cognitive skills and learning agility.

• Invest in "New Collar" Pipelines: Develop apprenticeships and comprehensive internships designed to build skills sequentially.

• Partner with Educational Institutions: Emphasize curricula that develop strong foundational skills.

• Rethink L&D Metrics: Measure demonstrated application of sequentially learned skills in real contexts.

• Address Systemic Biases: Design talent systems ensuring equitable access to skill development opportunities.

Finally

The discovery of nested skill hierarchies offers a powerful lens through which to view professional development, wage dynamics, and workforce strength. By aligning recruitment, training, and career development strategies with these emerging insights, organizations can:

• Enhance individual and organizational performance.

• Reduce skill entrapment and occupational stagnation.

• Foster inclusive growth in an era of increasing specialization and automation.

Moh Hosseinioun notes, "The more we become specialized and nested, the more inequality and disparity across the labor market will occur." Managers and recruiters must ensure that foundational access to learning remains a priority, not just for profitability but also for societal equity.

References

New Study Reveals Importance of Foundational Skills for Advancing Career - TUN, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.tun.com/home/new-study-reveals-importance-of-foundational-skills-for-advancing-career/.

Nested hierarchies in job skills underscore importance of basic education | Santa Fe Institute, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/nested-hierarchies-in-job-skills-underscores-importance-of-basic-education

(PDF) Skill dependencies uncover nested human capital - ResearchGate, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389283908_Skill_dependencies_uncover_nested_human_capital

Historical changes in the skill structure between 2005 and 2019, a, The... - ResearchGate, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Historical-changes-in-the-skill-structure-between-2005-and-2019-a-The-distribution-of_fig7_389283908.

Human Resources Specialist (Human Resource Development) Career Path Guide, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/career-development/human-resource-development-career-path-guide.pdf.

Career Mapping for a More Engaged Workforce | Chronus, accessed May 20, 2025, https://chronus.com/blog/career-mapping

[2303.15629] Skill dependencies uncover nested human capital - arXiv, accessed May 20, 2025, https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.15629

News - Moh Hosseinioun, accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.mohhosseinioun.com/news

Final Remarks 

This article and analysis result from a compilation of references and notes from various theses, authors, media, and academics, gathered by a group of friends from “Organizational DNA Labs.” We employed AI platforms, including Gemini, Storm, Grok, Open-Source ChatGPT, and Grammarly, to expedite research and ensure clarity and logical flow. Our goal in using these tools was to verify information across multiple sources and validate it through academic databases and collaborations with equity firm analysts.

The provided references and notes offer a comprehensive list of our sources. As a researcher and editor, I have meticulously ensured proper citation and recognition of all contributors. The primary content stems from our compilation, analysis, and synthesis of these materials. Our summaries and inferences reflect a commitment to expanding and disseminating knowledge. While high-quality sources inform our perspective, the final conclusion represents our current views and understanding of the discussed topics, which are subject to change through continuous learning and literature reviews within this business field.