By requiring a degree and not focusing on a candidate’s skills or experience, employers are substantially shrinking their potential talent pool
Classroom Innovation

College degrees don’t equate to career readiness


By requiring a degree and not focusing on a candidate’s skills or experience, employers are substantially shrinking their potential talent pool

“For a number of fields, including several in-demand industries like healthcare, technology and skilled trades, the future of work – thanks to the accelerating pace of technological change – will not depend only on a degree. It will instead focus on a candidates’ skills, experiences and potential to upskill or train in new fields. Employers need to make changes to hiring practices. However, removing degree requirements is not a simple ‘top-down’ policy change, it requires a full-blown change effort to make sure hiring managers are actually comfortable overturning a decades-old practice,” said Hansen.

Other findings include:

  • Closing labor gaps while closing gaps in equity. Of those struggling to find talent, two in three (66 percent) believe that removing degree requirements for open roles would help them find qualified talent to narrow staffing gaps. And while the end goal is finding talent to support business growth, one in four employers (22 percent) say they don’t require a degree because it’s essential to creating fairer employment opportunities.
  • Employers struggle to evaluate and define the value of credentials. Before a mind shift can happen, employers need a better understanding of credentials and certifications, and the value they offer. Employers are split, nearly half (47 percent) believe it’s difficult to measure the meaningfulness of certifications or credentials in their line of work because they’re not familiar with them (16 percent) and aren’t sure which certifications or credentials have credibility (36 percent).
  • The hottest hiring industries have cold hiring methods. When reviewing entry-level recruitment across three of the “hottest job markets” – healthcare, technology and skilled trades – technology is one of the biggest degree stalwarts with 81 percent of tech employers admitting they require a two- or four-year degree compared to healthcare (50 percent) and skilled trades (57 percent). Considering that there are 3.85 million unfilled IT jobs in the U.S., the tech industry faces the biggest urgency to modify hiring requirements.
  • Employers as educators – education benefits become a powerful recruitment tool. Today’s talent expects employers to invest in their continued learning and career development, and most employers (77 percent) say free employer-sponsored education offerings are a differentiator for recruitment and retention in this tight labor market. Three in four employers (75 percent) offer employer-paid/employer-sponsored education opportunities, with 61 percent offering online education opportunities. Outside of providing education, 78 percent of employers say they offer the flexibility needed to pursue  education opportunities.

This press release originally appeared online.

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Laura Ascione
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