Dive Brief:

• HR pros in the tech space are putting more emphasis on reskilling and upskilling, an April 20 CompTIA report said. Large organizations are especially concerned, the organization said; 79% of HR professionals surveyed said they were "pursuing initiatives to address skills gaps" amid a tight market for tech talent.
• As part of the report, CompTIA predicted alternative learning pathways — including the elimination of four-year degree requirements — would make up a large part of 2021’s learning trends. About 3 in 4 HR professionals said they were in favor of relaxing the four-year requirement for candidates, according to the report.
• A deep need for skills may drive this trend forward, CompTIA said; 83% of HR pros surveyed said they would consider candidates without a four-year degree for IT positions, for example.  

Dive Insight:

L&D pros expected 2020 to be the beginning of an upskilling revolution to take place over the next three to five years, according to LinkedIn. More than half of L&D pros surveyed by LinkedIn Learning said they were planning to launch an upskilling program in 2020. While the pandemic may have changed some plans, employers still kept upskilling top of mind — and many announced new partnerships to further upskilling goals.

In fact, some experts said the changes brought by COVID-19 only further showcased why employee development matters. "Talent is a precious resource," Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum said during an Amazon Web Services virtual event in December. Data analysts and specialists in artificial intelligence, big data and digital marketing and strategy may be especially in demand in coming years, speakers noted. AWS, in particular, said it planned to upskill 29 million people by 2025 through free training in cloud computing.

"A key ingredient to restoring job growth and adapting to the new, post-pandemic world of work must begin with prioritizing reskilling millions of individuals to close the growing skills gap and prepare workers for the increasingly digital economy," Lindsay Witcher, vice president of global practice strategy and solutions at Randstad RiseSmart, wrote for HR Dive in March.

Notably, the tides are changing on the inherent value of four-year degrees across the board, other studies have shown. A 2019 study by Qlik revealed that a majority of respondents said previous job experience or a skills test were key ways to understand a candidate’s data literacy, not necessarily a STEM degree.