You can also access this resource in issue 339 of my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter.
In February 2024, I shared a Harvard Business School and Burning Glass Institute report, Skills-Based Hiring: The Long Road from Pronouncements to Practice. Based on 11,300 roles at large firms, it found that removing degree requirements produced only a 3.5 percentage point increase in hiring workers without a bachelor’s degree. A new study from the Burning Glass Institute and OneTen, analyzing more than 1,000 major U.S. employers, reinforces that pattern. Removing degree requirements alone produced only a 2 percentage point increase in non-degreed hires. But firms in the top 10% of “credential fluency” were 11 percentage points more likely to hire credentialed workers. What makes the difference: mapping credentials to roles, embedding them in applicant tracking systems, training hiring managers to assess them, and signaling them in job postings and recruiting materials. For example, Infosys names AWS Architect certifications in postings, while HubSpot does the same for Inbound Marketing certifications. The report also surfaces a tech paradox: tech firms rarely list credential requirements, yet are most likely to hire credentialed workers. Overall, skills-based hiring requires more than removing degree requirements. It demands embedding a range of operational practices into how organizations actually hire, of which credential fluency is one practical example. To support that effort, here is one of my cheat sheets: 9 Questions for Evaluating if Degrees Are Required for a Role.
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