Skills Based Hiring is the Trend of the Era

by | Apr 18, 2022 | Business Excellence

A person in a suit is pressing a blue hexagonal button labeled "TALENT" on a transparent interface filled with other hexagons displaying words like "Skills," "Knowledge," "Intelligence," "Success," and "Creativity." This emphasizes the importance of skills-based-hiring in modern recruitment.

During the early 2000s, most employers started asking for specific degree requirements in the job descriptions. This description included jobs that previously didn’t require any particular degree. This trend was better known as degree inflation; however, it led to the great resignation drive between 2008 and 2009. With this, the business, government, and community-based organizations recognized that this trend needs a resent. As a result, many of them started eliminating the requirements for degrees in the hiring process.

In the recent past, we have seen two waves. The first was a structural reset that started in 2017 regarding the bull market for workers. However, the second began in 2020 in the form of a coronavirus pandemic, and it is still going on. During structural reset, employers started emphasizing the competencies and skills of the candidates instead of their degrees. This major shift in mindset opened new opportunities for a large population that couldn’t get jobs in the past due to degree inflation. However, soon after that, folks experienced significant health crises, and the typical social distancing measures forced several people to leave their jobs. This pandemic-related reset opened doors to more than 5,48,000 job offerings, and most hiring managers prefer skill-based candidates to take charge.

What is happening to degree requirements in industries?

To understand the changes happening, it is first essential to understand the impact of information technology on various job profiles. The demand for IT experts is rising in almost every sector. But for these posts, most companies prefer candidates with college degrees. What is the reason behind this?

When the candidate’s skills can be tested using pre-employment history, testing, and certification, it is surprising to know that many employers are looking for degrees. Many hiring managers believe that college degrees promise more refined soft skills among candidates. In addition, such employees are likely to have better communication ability and teamwork skills.

However, in many companies, the reduced dependence on degree-based hiring has made managers more careful about the skill set they require the candidate to possess. Therefore, they are now listing job requirements and pre-requisites with more clarity. Even the big brands in the industry are adding soft skill requirements to their job posting by eliminating degree requirements.

The reset in the hiring procedures has become a prime concern in the industry. To boost labor market equity, employers need to remove barriers in the hiring process for well-paying jobs. One of the best decisions is to eliminate degree requirements. Although every company has different needs, they can put details clearly in the job posting. In addition, it will help them find better ways to evaluate applications and hire the most suitable candidate for the job. This can create a win-win situation for both parties. Companies can get a skilled workforce, whereas the candidates without a regular degree can also find better job offers based on their skills and abilities.