The New Normal in Hiring This Year: A Bachelor’s Degree No Longer

Experts say a college degree may become less important when it comes to job hunting.

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Colleges are canceling the SAT. Law schools are doing away with the LSAT, the Law School Admissions Test. Now, too, the workplace is starting to deemphasize the bachelor’s degree, which experts believe will become the norm this year.

In 2023, hiring will focus more on skills than degree requirements, at least at successful companies, according to research and consultancy Gartner’s nine top workplace predictions for this year. Gartner explained that to stay in business, companies must expand and diversify their talent acquisition pipeline, as they struggle to meet talent needs through more traditional recruiting strategies, and employees’ career paths are increasingly non-linear.

“In 2023, to fill critical job vacancies, companies will need to change their strategies to become more accepting of candidates being judged solely on their ability to perform their duties, rather than on their academic qualifications and previous work experience,” Gartner wrote.

This appears to require companies to proactively reach out directly to candidates with non-traditional backgrounds, even though they may not have submitted a job application, or to “relax” requirements for degrees or previous work experience.

Some companies have already started doing this. Fortune 500 companies such as Google, IBM and Apple have eliminated long-standing degree requirements. The numbers: Only 41 percent of U.S. job postings will require a bachelor’s degree in November 2022, according to an analysis by the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank. That’s down from 46 percent at the start of 2019.

In 2016, IBM coined the term “new collar job” to describe jobs that require specific skills rather than a specific degree. Between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of the company’s hiring positions requiring a four-year degree dropped from 95% to less than 50%. Then-CEO Ginni Rometty told Fortune CEO Alan Murray that employees without a four-year degree performed as well as those with a Ph.D.

Gartner isn’t the only one releasing such predictions. The new age of the workplace will prioritize skills over Education background.

More than 70% of job openings require a college degree, yet only 50% of the U.S. population has a college degree. In March 2022, LinkedIn launched a series of tools to highlight job candidates’ skills during the job search process. In its announcement, the company described a skills-first approach as “key to getting through the next phase of the ‘Great Reshuffle’.”

“Benefits for both employers and employees…”

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky told the Harvard Business Review in November 2022 that in times of uncertainty, when employees and bosses will always be at odds, strong, good at Self-regulating leaders are able to solve problems skillfully.

A few years ago, hiring managers had no better way than to evaluate talent based on work history, education or who they knew, Roslansky said. “But as the rate of change in the labor market increases, we need to determine what factors to focus on, and this alternative, flexible, easy-to-achieve approach is skills-based.”

Commuters may also need a shift in mindset, especially when looking for highly sought-after fully remote jobs. Anna Stansbury, an assistant professor of work and organization studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, told Fortune that if anyone from anywhere in the world could hold some jobs, companies would It is very likely that these jobs will eventually be outsourced to other countries to fill the vacancies at a lower cost. In other words, your telecommuting job could be taken away by someone else. That gives office workers all the more reason to keep an eye out for opportunities to improve their skills.

A shift in focus from academics to skills will ultimately make the hiring process fairer, benefiting both candidates and companies. After GM dropped degree requirements for several positions, its chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Telva McGruder, told Fortune’s Phil Wahba that a degree “isn’t necessarily a representation The ultimate indicator of personal potential.”

Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, wrote in 2020 that many Americans do not have a degree and that a degree does not necessarily lead to economic security. “We need new, easy-to-use job training solutions, from enhanced career education to online education and more, to help America recover and rebuild.”

Given the economic outlook for 2023, recovering and rebuilding is probably a good idea for most companies. (Fortune Chinese website)

Translated by: Liu Jinlong

Reviewer: Wang Hao

Colleges are dropping the SAT. Law schools are dropping the LSAT. And now, workplaces are dropping bachelor degrees—and experts think that should become the norm this year.

2023 will center on skills-based hiring rather than degree requirements—at least at successful companies, predicts research advisory and consulting firm Gartner in its list of top nine workplace predictions for the year. Companies must expand and diversify their talent to stay at pipelines Gartner explains, thanks to their struggle to meet talent needs through more traditional recruiting strategies and employees’ increasingly nonlinear career paths.

“To fill critical roles in 2023, organizations will need to become more comfortable assessing candidates solely on their ability to perform in the role, rather than their credentials and prior experience,” Gartner wrote.

That might look like reaching out directly to candidates from nontraditional backgrounds who may not have applied otherwise, or “relaxing” degree or past-experience requirements.

Some companies are already well on their way there. Fortune 500 companies including Google, IBM, and Apple, have eschewed their longstanding degree requirements. It shows: In November 2022, just 41% of US-based job postings required a bachelor’s degree, per an analysis from think tank Burning Glass Institute. That’s down from 46% in early 2019.

Way back in 2016, IBM coined the term “new collar jobs” to describe roles that require specific skills rather than a specific degree. Between 2011 and 2021, the company’s job listings that required a four-year degree dropped from 95% to under 50 %. Ginni Rometty, IBM’s CEO at the time, told Fortune CEO Alan Murray that non-degree-holding hires performed just as well as those with Ph.Ds

Gartner isn’t alone in its prediction. The next era of work will prioritize skills over pedigree, LinkedIn’s VP Aneesh Raman and Jobs for the Future’s VP Cat Ward wrote in a commentary piece for Fortune at earlier January.

Over 70% of job listings require a college degree, which only 50% of Americans have. Last March, LinkedIn launched a suite of tools that emphasize candidates’ skills during the application process. The announcement billed a skills-first approach as the “key to navigate the next phase of the Great Reshuffle.”

“What’s good for the goose…”

In such uncertain times, when employees and bosses constantly go toe-to-toe, strong, adaptive leaders will be deftly pivoting, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky told the Harvard Business Review in November 2022.

Years ago, hiring managers didn’t have a better way of assessing talent than via job history, pedigree, or who they knew, Roslansky said. “But when the labor market is moving much quicker, we really need to figure out something to focus on, and that alternative, flexible, accessible path is really going to be based on skills.”

Workers might need to pivot too—especially with regard to highly sought-after fully remote jobs. If roles could reliably be done by anyone around the globe, the odds are good a company will eventually outsource them overseas, where they can be filled at a much lower cost, assistant professor of work and organization studies at MIT Sloan School of Management Anna Stansbury told Fortune. In other words, your remote job could go to someone else. All the more reason for workers to keep a close eye on opportunities to upskill .

But turning away from pedigree and toward skills is ultimately more equitable, which is good for both job seekers and business. After General Motors removed degree requirements from many listings, Telva McGruder, its chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, told Philtuneah’s , degrees aren’t “necessarily the be-all, end-all indicator of someone’s potential.”

Degrees are out of reach for many Americans and shouldn’t be mandatory to gain economic security, Google’s global affairs president, Kent Walker, wrote in 2020. “We need new, accessible job-training solutions—from enhanced vocational programs to online education— to help America recover and rebuild.”

Given the economic outlook in 2023, for most companies, recovering and rebuilding may not be a bad idea.

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