WX trends: Do your skills outweigh your schooling?

Our workplace experience (WX) trends series looks at recent news articles, videos, social media posts and thought leadership pieces on workplace experience. You’ll also hear from our experts on what’s trending.

This WX trends is all about the focus on skills over degree requirements in the workplace. First we’re looking at what workers should highlight when looking to switch jobs. Next, we’ll explore what companies get wrong about skills-based hiring. Finally, why college degrees still matter.

Changing careers? It’s all about your skills

Degree requirements used to be a standard in many job descriptions. But in some industries, it’s starting to disappear.

With the job market undergoing a shift due to automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and globalization, there’s more of an emphasis on skills over degrees, according to an article in Forbes. With this shift, workers should focus on their tangible skills rather than the degrees hanging on their wall when looking to make a job change.

A report by Intelligent.com found that 45% of surveyed companies plan to get rid of degree requirements for some jobs in 2024 and even more (55%) did it last year.

“70% say they eliminated bachelor’s degree requirements to create a more diverse workforce, and 4 in 5 employers value experience over education when evaluating job candidates.”

But there is a skills gap, the article continues. New grads often lack essential critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, and existing employees may need updated skills. Addressing this gap is crucial for organizational success, according to the article, adding soft skills, like communication, creativity, and emotional intelligence, is increasingly important.

Developing these soft skills – specifically empathy – is essential in cultivating a positive workplace experience, says Holly Grogan, Chief People Officer at Appspace. “We’ve rolled out initiatives like the Real Colors assessment, for example, to empower our teammates to understand their own strengths and how they interact with others.”

Is change really coming?

Skills-based hiring makes sense in today’s market, but are companies actually doing it? An article in the Harvard Business Review indicates the intention might be there, but the reality is different.

Despite a fourfold increase in job postings dropping degree requirements over the past decade, less than 4% of these jobs went to candidates without degrees. This isn’t due to bad intentions but rather a misunderstanding of how to enact real change, according to the article.

Companies often think that simply stopping the demand for degrees is enough. However, they need to implement new, more inclusive hiring practices. In health care and IT, certifications provide clear alternatives to degrees, but most fields lack such benchmarks. Without them, managers default to using degrees to screen candidates, the article states.

The article continues that employees without degrees stay 20% longer at their jobs than their degree-holding peers. To truly embrace skills-based hiring, companies need practical steps to evaluate skills effectively, beyond just altering job ads. Here are six steps to help managers make this shift a reality.

Why you might still want that degree

Despite headlines suggesting otherwise, a college degree remains crucial in today’s job market, according to an opinion piece in the New York Times.

While 14 states and many top companies have dropped degree requirements for numerous jobs, this shift hasn’t significantly altered hiring practices, author Ben Wildavsky states. An issue is that removing degree requirements alone doesn’t lead to substantial change – hiring managers still often prefer degree holders.

College graduates earn significantly more than those with only a high school diploma, with a median wage premium of over $30,000, a 2019 New York Fed analysis found. In tech-heavy firms, degree requirements are still prevalent.

Though alternatives to degrees are valuable, the broad education and skills obtained in college, including analytical and communication abilities, prepare graduates for long-term success, according to the author. The movement away from degree requirements, while well-intentioned, might not fully benefit those it aims to help.

For more trends in workplace experience, explore the WX hub.