Part 1 of 5
In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication.
Degree or Skills?
Organisations are changing how they choose candidates based on their potential for growth and their ability to adapt to different work situations. This applies to both full-time employees and contractors, and the main focus of the hiring process is now on skills.
In the past, many employers required job applicants to have a college degree, even if the job itself didn’t necessarily need one. This was especially true in the IT sector. For example, almost all IT positions at Oracle required a degree, followed by Intel at 94%, HP at 92%, and Apple at 90%. However, Accenture took a more flexible approach, with only 26% of their job openings requiring a degree.
After the recession in 2008-2009, this trend started to change. Employers began to remove degree requirements, especially with the rise of hybrid work models during the Covid-19 pandemic. IT jobs were particularly affected, as it became harder to find qualified candidates. Employers started looking for skills and competencies that were gained outside of traditional degree programs.
Nowadays, around 81% of employers believe that skills should be prioritized over degrees. However, those who removed degree requirements started adding more specific requirements for “soft skills” in their job postings. Read the Harvard Business Review report on the rise of skills-based hiring here.
A McKinsey & Co. report on taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce concluded that companies recognise skills-based practices as a powerful solution to challenges that have become more difficult since the pandemic. Report here ( ).
Skills-based organisations can also promote equity: 80% of business executives say making decisions about hiring, pay, promotions, succession, and deployment based on people’s skills rather than their job history, tenure in the job, or network reduces bias and improves fairness. 75% say hiring, promoting, and deploying people based on skills can help democratise opportunity and improve access to it.
The Firehead Training Academy provides employers, employees, and contractors in technical communication fields access to a broad range of upskilling courses. We can also develop tailored training courses to ensure your business finds, retains and maximises the potential of your digital communication staff and content developers.
Contact us at recruit@firehead.net or use our contact form here to get in touch.
