Dive Brief:
- CareerBuilder announced in a press release the results of a recent survey of 2,300 human resource leaders in the private sector, indicating that 38% of employers have raised educational requirements in the last 5 years. Now some 41% of US employers are hiring college-educated workers for jobs previously held by those with just high school diplomas, up from 37% in 2016.
- Upon deeper inquiry, 61% the respondents of the CareerBuilder survey said they were hiring more candidates with college degrees because the jobs evolved enough that they required candidates who were better prepared. Another 56% said the tight labor market was making it possible to obtain college educated candidates.
- As a result of hiring more educated employees, companies said that they had benefited from better communication, productivity, and quality of work.
Dive Insight:
Normally, we hear about the job market being a candidate’s paradise with the national average of unemployment staying below 5%. However, employers are searching for skills within their networks, and apparently reaching out to more college educated candidates is easier and less time-consuming.
Increasing educational requirements for jobs is not always the best way to go about things, however, as there are a growing number of younger workers who are heading for blue collar careers and opting to skip college degrees and take on apprenticeships instead. These are likely the children of Generation X who are trying to avoid the $1 trillion student loan debt trap several students face.
