The next era of work will be about skills–not pedigree. Here’s how employers are changing the way they judge potential, according to LinkedIn and Jobs for the Future

Fortune ^ | Jan 5th, 2023 | Aneesh Raman, Cat Ward

[libh8er]

For decades now, companies have measured candidates largely by their degrees, years of experience, and other pedigree signals as filters to determine who to hire and promote.

However, the cracks in this model are becoming more apparent by the day: 61% of the U.S. business leaders LinkedIn recently surveyed say it’s challenging to attract top talent right now–and studies suggest that traditional signals such as specific years of experience are flawed predictors of someone’s ability to do a job well.

For companies who say it’s a tough environment to find the right talent, the math behind this approach shows why: Over 70% of jobs require degrees–but less than 50% of the U.S. workforce hold a bachelor’s degree. The talent pools shrink even further when employers screen candidates to recruit from a small pool of elite universities and top companies.

Against this backdrop, there’s a massive shift underway that’s steadily moving the labor market from a pedigree-based model to a skills-first model. Employers on LinkedIn are already making this shift, with roughly one in four job postings (24%) in the U.S. no longer requiring degrees, up from 15% in 2020. HR teams are also increasingly relying on skills as the key filter through which to evaluate a candidate’s ability and potential on LinkedIn, with over 40% now explicitly using skills data to fill their roles.

That sustained momentum suggests it’s no longer a question of if or when–but really a matter of how we collectively take the next steps now to make a skills-first approach a shared reality across all corners of the labor market.

From remote and hybrid working to “quiet quitting” and the “Great Reshuffle”, the pandemic era has ushered in a new wave of workplace conversations that rapidly became new workplace norms. Many of those conversations take place

[SMARTY]

I dunno, man. Every time I have to deal with a person on the other end of the phone or even at their office, it's like talking to ‘Bert and Ernie’.

I mean...everything has to be reiterated over and over until you want to cry... then you need to draw a picture with stick people, before they ‘get it’.

Whether it's the doctor's sec., or the car repair clerk, or the insurance office, etc..... they're all halfwits! (And heaven help you if you have to speak to a gov’t. employee.)

One clerk asked me to repeat myself 3 times. Then I realized she was looking at her cell phone instead of listening to my answer. What idiots!

[newnhdad]

It’s always a CBA. Is the experience worth the cost?

[pfflier]

IQ alone isn't a good predictor of success

I know it is a TV show but, The Big Bang Theory is a classic example of this. Penny owns all the smart boys.

Her hidden lesson to us is that she tries and fails but still manages to bring it on.

[Sequoyah101]

“HR teams” There is the problem. Just how is it that they themselves are qualified to determine qualifications and adequate skills for something they can’t do themselves.

In a sane time in the past HR did payroll and benefits. They were support only to managers who did the hiring and firing. The only pendulum that is centered is on a stopped clock and so we just lurch from one extreme to another.

[Honest Nigerian]

This was inevitable. Because the value-add of so many college degrees is thoroughly worthless.
Somehow, the colleges and universities have contributed to their own demise. They had a lot of help from almost everyone, including those who pressured them to dumb down the curriculums and accept unqualified (and/or unprepared) students.
Still, the demand for college admissions (from the degree-seeking population) seems rather strong. Between YouTube, distance-learning and other developments we should expect to see contraction in the higher-education (so-called) business.
Perhaps the regulatory capture of education will keep them sage from classical economic forces. (Think military-industrial complex.)

[Honest Nigerian]

... will keep them safe (not “sage”)

[SauronOfMordor]

I remember about 40 years ago a manager was needing to shift through a pool of college students to fill some internship shots.

He had us include our SAT scores and picked the highest ones.

[SauronOfMordor]

IQ alone often won’t do it.

IQ plus patience plus persistence plus people skills will usually guarantee success.

[wintertime]

It can’t come soon enough.

If a job didn’t need a college degree in 1950, it doesn’t need one now.

Instead of requiring a degree, employers should request SAT and ACT scores.