Posted on 11/26/2022 7:38:37 AM PST by karpov
The tight labor market is prompting more employers to eliminate one of the biggest requirements for many higher-paying jobs: the need for a college degree.
Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Delta Air Lines Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. have reduced educational requirements for certain positions and shifted hiring to focus more on skills and experience. Maryland this year cut college-degree requirements for many state jobs—leading to a surge in hiring—and incoming Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a similar initiative.
U.S. job postings requiring at least a bachelor’s degree were 41% in November, down from 46% at the start of 2019 ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank that studies the future of work. Degree requirements dropped even more early in the pandemic. They have grown since then but remain below prepandemic levels.
The shift comes as demand for workers remains high and unemployment is low. Job postings far outpace the number of unemployed people looking for work—10.7 million openings in September compared with 5.8 million unemployed—creating unusually stiff competition for workers.
The persistently tight labor market has accelerated the trend that builds on a debate about the benefits and drawbacks of encouraging more people to attend four-year colleges and as organizations try to address racial disparities in the workplace.
Some occupations have universal degree requirements, such as doctors and engineers, while others typically have no higher education requirements, such as retail workers. There is a middle ground, such as tech positions, that have varying degree requirements depending on the industry, company and strength of the labor market and economy.
Lucy Mathis won a scholarship to attend a women in computer science conference.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I was chair of the Library Committee at the college I taught at. When a vacancy occurred for a librarian’s position I formed the search committee with three colleagues, a member of the library staff, and two students (seniors with good work ethics and good GPAs).
We advertised in the appropriate journals, library associations and so forth. We might get 100 applicants. All HR did was to place the applications in order in which received. The committee would review each application-50 might be immediately placed in the round file for lack of experience or degree. The remaining 50 were examined and the committe NOT HR would decide to inverview by phone or Zoom 8 to 10 candidates, and the committee would invite 3 or 4 to campus. We would rank the candidates and recommend one to the provost and president who made the final decision (they never rejected our top choice)
HR had no decision in the hiring process. They would schedule each candidate’s visit to campus and schedule meetings with our committee, students, faculty etc.
You got me.
I knew it was time to run when the CEO said the company needs to resemble our community.
Philly has more blacks than whites.
A utility company is just a regulated monopoly. There’s zero competition, so efficiency isn’t prized. Worst run company with many highly intelligent workers.
Between HR, 24 y/o MBAs that can only see the current quarter, and non EE managers not willing to address anything, I’m baffled that the power stays on.
Every year, and every storm, is as though it’s the first one ever.
SNAFU Central…
I must have been in HR heaven.
It would be nice if that described industrial HR departments. In order to get an appropriate job, you MUST know someone who can take your resume to the hiring project manager.
Lucky for me, I bailed out of corporate employment years ago. Even after retirement I can still get decent gigs as a hired gun. I also have a skill set that is not common: understand physics, design electronic instrumentation, write embedded software, write communications software when needed, and write software on the machine to which the instruments connect. I can document all of the work and take/edit the photographs that go into the documents. I can also make technical drawings and do 3D modeling. I have a really decent manual machine shop, so I can also prototype the instruments.
I also get to wear grubbies whenever I please.
Would love to be a historian about 500 years from now when they examine the fall of the United States.
I’m sure it will go down as “The era of the insane”.
:)
If I had 74 cents for every time this happened….
Getting decent gigs after retirement is really great; it sound like you have the skill set and workshop to do it.
Well done.
Not a fair comparison! The military has a “multiple hammers” it can use on “employees” to get the results they want; all private companies can do is fire them.
They don’t write stories. They just reword the talking points fax from the DNC.
yeah, well try my brain for a day- it’s no picnic
Agreed, undergrad degrees add very minimal value and at a very high cost. Real work experience is significantly more value, especially for those that are inquisitive, have a good work ethic and a good attitude. My T10 MBA was actually very useful but my BS in Economics was certainly not a great value.
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