Doren Laffein, 31, a junior data analyst apprentice at a nonprofit health network, has never earned a college degree.
“I tried to go to college for eight years, but in the end it just wasn't for me,” Laffein told Yahoo Finance. “I had always been interested in a career in technology, but I struggled with abstract math concepts. I was also the only person of color in my high-level class. It was daunting. It was something like that.”
LaFaine, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, enrolled in a free boot camp through Multiverse, a tech startup that offers apprenticeship programs, which led to her position starting in December.
“My current job is a dream come true,” she said. “I work in a flexible environment where I can learn things at a pace that works for me. This company is diverse, but my annual salary is her $60,000.”
Finding a job without a four-year college degree has been difficult for decades, but there are signs that it's getting easier. Three new reports warn of a surge in job openings that don't require a four-year college degree.
Degree requirements are reduced even in specialized fields
A new PayScale survey examining compensation across the industry found that one-third of employers are eliminating degree requirements. And this year, only about one-fifth of organizations say they still require a college degree for all salaried positions.
However, half of the companies surveyed consider educational background important when it comes to salary. Ruth Thomas, pay equity strategist at PayScale, told Yahoo Finance that “skills-based hiring is gaining momentum given continued skills shortages and a shrinking workforce.” “But this is really the beginning of that journey.”
This survey of more than 5,700 employers, primarily based in the United States, is promising. “But that may not mean they're actually hiring people without degrees,” said Amy Stewart, associate director at PayScale and author of the report. He said.
Further evidence of change: A recent report from the Indeed Hiring Lab found that more than half of jobs posted on Indeed in January had no formal education requirements. This is up from 48% in 2019. Additionally, the percentage of job openings in the U.S. that require at least a college degree has been steadily decreasing over the past five years.
Formal education requirements are declining in nearly every sector and occupational group analyzed by Indeed.
According to the study, the past five years have seen significant changes in fields with historically high educational requirements. For example, project management jobs showed the greatest change from undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. This year, his 58% of those job openings required at least a bachelor's degree, down from 67% in 2019.
“The labor market has tightened in recent years, which is one reason why employers are looking to remove some of these requirements to expand their pool of workers,” said Cory Stahl, labor economist at Indeed. Maybe I can explain the department.” Hiring Lab told Yahoo Finance.
“But this is a trend that was occurring even before the pandemic hit and the labor market tightened. We’re seeing more hiring practices that focus on seed skills.”
Some Americans have a four-year degree
The reality is that most American workers have had to contend with educational barriers to employment for decades. By 2022, more than one in three Americans over the age of 25 will have a bachelor's degree. The unemployment rate for people over 25 with a high school degree but no college is nearly twice as high as the unemployment rate for college graduates.
The news that more employers are opening up their doors to people without degrees is good for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one is purely economic.
The average in-state tuition and fees to attend a ranked public university is about $10,662 this school year, compared to $42,162 for a private university, according to U.S. News data. These high prices don't take into account the amount students have to pay for housing, food, and books, which can easily run into the thousands of dollars.
Waiving degree requirements could also help close the pay gap.
“When we study the racial wage gap, a key factor is access to education, which limits the earning potential of people of color,” Thomas added.
Lip service or meaningful change?
However, will people other than university graduates be hired?
“All I can say is that these trends vary greatly by job type,” Mona Morshed, founder and CEO of Generation, a global employment nonprofit, told Yahoo Finance. “For example, in a June 2023 survey, more than half (61%) of employers in entry-level technical roles; raised Education and work experience requirements for the past three years. ”
Another reason to be skeptical: A recent report by the Burning Glass Institute, an independent nonprofit research center that surveyed 316 million people, found that nearly half of companies found there was no significant difference in actual employment. Looks like the job requirements are changing. Posting job information online since 2012.
The report examines how states like Pennsylvania and Maryland are increasingly not imposing degree requirements on job seekers, as state governments, tech companies, and major industries publicly eliminate requirements for thousands of job openings. It details how the situation is increasing. Leaders include Koch Industries, Walmart, Apple, General Motors, Target, Cigna, Tyson Foods, ExxonMobil, and Yelp.
The number of roles with a non-degree requirement increased almost fourfold from 2014 to 2023, according to the report. But with employers hiring for millions of roles a year, it has “only marginal penetration”, the researchers say.
“But most importantly, simply removing the criteria for applying for a job does not change the final outcome of the hiring process,” says Roberts, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of Burning Joseph Fuller, co-author of “Glass.'' he told Yahoo Finance. “Posting a job listing is only the first step in the hiring process.”
Just over a third of the companies analyzed made tangible changes to the profile of the employees they hired after reviewing the educational prerequisites for a job.
Education still wins
Employers value college-educated job candidates highly, says Bradley Schuman, workplace expert and founder and CEO of Human Change, a global strategic research and advisory firm. He says he is.
“So if you have two equally qualified applicants, the one with a college degree is more likely to get the job,” he said.
The future labor market may require more rapid change.
“Participation in our labor market is at near record levels. At the same time, our population is aging,” Stahle said.
Demographic pressures from falling birth rates in the U.S. mean fewer workers are being produced to replace retirees, making it critical for employers to be able to expand their hiring capacity, he added.
Kelly Hannon is a senior columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 of her books, including “The World's Best.''Taking Control Even Over 50: How to Succeed in the New World of Work.” and “You’re never too old to get rich.” Follow her on X @Kellyhannon.
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