June 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Is a four-year college degree still the best predictor of workplace success? In this episode of Work Week, host Dr. Gabby Burlacu explores why companies are rethinking traditional hiring practices in favor of a skills-first approach. Featuring new data from the Upwork Research Institute and industry research from the World Economic Forum, we discuss why executives are removing degree requirements, as well as steps your organization can take to adopt skills-based hiring. Whether you’re a leader or hiring manager, or are curious about how talent is evolving, this episode offers actionable insights into building a more effective, agile workplace.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
- [Gabby] Hello andwelcome to "Work Week,"
the podcast where wetackle one big question
about the rapidly evolving workplace,
share timely research about the issue
and explain what it all means for you.
I'm Dr. Gabby Burlacu,
Senior Manager at theUpwork Research Institute
and your host for today's episode.
What you're hearing are my words
brought to you by adigital proxy of my voice
(00:27):
created with the help of AI technology.
In this week's episode, we're asking,
are degrees stillvaluable to the workforce
and are they good indicators of potential
that employers should look for?
Let's unpack why these questions matter.
For decades,
a college degree hasnearly been a requirement
to enter the professional workforce.
Employers viewed degreesas a convenient shorthand
(00:47):
for competence, perseverance,and a baseline of knowledge.
But as the pace of technologicalchange accelerates,
business leaders are finding
that degrees are anincreasingly poor reflection
of what's needed to succeed
in today's dynamic work environment.
Skills, not schools,
are becoming the newcurrency of the labor market.
In a survey conducted
by the Upwork Research Institute in 2024
(01:10):
of 1,250 C-suite leaders,
81% of respondents said theirorganizations are taking
deliberate steps to adoptskills-based hiring practices.
This deliberate shift includesremoving degree requirements
from job postings, implementingskills assessments,
and expanding recruiting efforts
to target non-traditional candidates.
(01:31):
Consider that.
When 8 out of 10 C-suite executives
are rethinking hiring norms,
it's not a fringemovement, it's mainstream.
In the same research,
76% of executives and 78% of CEOs
reported that their topfreelancers contribute
more value than degree-holding employees.
This data suggests that, atleast in the eyes of leadership,
(01:52):
freelancers are outperforming
traditionally credentialed employees.
When it comes to hiring freelancers,
74% of executives in our research said
they don't even consider degrees relevant,
and instead, focus on proven expertise.
These are major indicatorsthat the value proposition
of a degree is changing fast.
A 2024 survey of 1,019 employers conducted
(02:15):
by TestGorilla furtherhighlights the shift
toward and benefit of skills-based hiring.
According to the survey,
90% of companies usingskills-based hiring methods
saw reduction in mishires.
Additionally, 94% agreed
that skills assessmentswere more predictive
of on-the-job successthan traditional resumes.
When the majority ofemployers believe hiring
(02:36):
for skills reduces hiring mistakes,
it's no wonder degreerequirements are falling away.
Finally, the World EconomicForum's Future of Jobs 2025
reports shows that 19% ofemployers are proactively removing
degree requirements toincrease talent availability.
While that may seem relatively small,
it represents a pivotal shift
(02:56):
in how companies build their workforces.
You may be wondering why this shift
towards skills-based hiring is happening.
Well, a few factors come to mind.
First, the speed of change.
In-demand skills are rapidly changing.
As we shared in a previous episode,
the World Economic ForumFuture of Jobs 2025 report
also projects that in the next five years,
(03:18):
39% of worker skills willbecome transformed or outdated.
Colleges simply can't keep pace
with the changing demandsof the labor market.
A degree that takes years to earn
or that was earned yearsago doesn't guarantee
a worker is equipped fortoday's business needs.
A second factor that's increasing
the shift to skills-based hiring
is the increased accessto ongoing learning.
(03:40):
Online education, bootcamps,micro-credentials,
and project-based learninghave democratized access
to skill building at thesame time that the cost
of a traditional four-yeardegree has skyrocketed.
Employers recognize this too
and are increasingly turningto skilled professionals
who have proven experiencerather than degrees
in emerging skills suchas artificial intelligence
(04:02):
and machine learning.
A third factor moving the labor market
towards skills-based hiringis ongoing talent shortages.
Companies are facing skills gaps in fields
like technology,healthcare, and marketing,
where relying solely on degree holders
shrinks the available talent pool.
Skills-based hiring opens doors
to overlooked but highly capable workers.
(04:22):
And finally, the riseof the freelance economy
makes skills-based hiring more attractive.
Freelancers, who are hiredbased on experience and skills,
not educational pedigree,
have proven that results matter most.
With 76% of executives seeing more value
from freelancers thandegree-holding employees,
this suggests that performanceoutweighs diplomas.
(04:43):
The move towards skills-basedhiring is about more
than simply being fair or inclusive.
This shift affects businessesin meaningful ways.
Talent pools are broadened,
performance targets are hit more often,
and business agility is increased.
Does this mean that degreesare no longer valuable?
No, but it does mean theiremphasis has changed.
(05:04):
In highly technical fields,
undergraduate degrees often provide
necessary baseline skills,
and in creative fields,
the time spent getting adegree is time spent honing
important crafts and hopefullybuilding a portfolio.
But for students,
this means that learninghow to apply those skills
and crafts in real-world environments
is more important than ever.
(05:25):
Potential employers may notask about your alma mater,
but they'll wanna see that youwalked away from university
knowing how to apply what you learned.
They'll also want to see howyou're continuing to learn
and build new skillsthroughout your career
to adapt to changing business needs.
Because for employers,
skills-based hiring helpsclose critical skills gaps,
(05:46):
and they wanna see that their hires
are part of a bigger solution.
If you're a leader or hiring manager,
you can't afford to clingto outdated hiring models.
Here's how you can adapt.
First, gain visibility into the skills
your workforce already has
to better understand the skills you need.
In a survey of 1,250 C-level leaders,
we found that only 40% were confident
(06:08):
they knew the skill setstheir workforce already had.
This limited insight intoexisting skills would make it
very difficult to createan effective strategy
for hiring and developingthe right skills.
Second, audit andrewrite job descriptions.
Remove degree requirements
unless they're trulyrequired for the role.
Emphasize skills,competencies, and deliverables.
(06:31):
Encourage workers with the right skills
to apply to your open positions,
even if they don'tnecessarily have a degree.
Third, shift interview strategies
and candidate evaluation strategies.
Move beyond resume reviewsthat emphasize degrees
and a list of prior companies.
Focus on project-based interviews,
portfolio reviews and skills assessments.
(06:51):
Evaluate candidates forboth hard and soft skills
to ensure they have thetechnical competencies
to achieve business outcomes
and the human skills tocollaborate with your team.
Fourth, invest inup-skilling and re-skilling.
Recognize that continuallearning is now the norm
and is mutually beneficial toboth businesses and workers.
(07:12):
Support your employeeswith learning stipends,
online course accessand mentorship programs,
and encourage team membersto share their knowledge
and new skills with others.
Fifth, create skills-based career paths.
Support internal mobilitybased on skill progression,
not just job title or tenure.
Encourage employees tobuild their own ladders.
(07:33):
This approach can help ensureyour organization continues
to address changing skills needs,
and can drive engagement and retention
by offering employeesopportunities for advancement.
And finally, embracealternative talent sources.
Moving away from degree requirements
and other traditional hiring practices
opens the door for you toreach skilled candidates
(07:53):
from sources you may nothave previously considered.
This might include boot camps,apprenticeship programs,
freelance platforms, or othernon-traditional pathways.
Skills-based hiring is aboutmore than filling seats.
It's about creating a more equitable,
effective and flexible workplace.
Prioritizing skills will helpyou realize several benefits.
(08:15):
Not only will you drivebetter business outcomes
by matching talent to current needs,
but you'll also future-proofyour organization
by hiring learners and problem solvers,
not just degree holders.
Beyond that, you'lldiversify your workforce
by opening doors tonon-traditional candidates,
and you'll create an environment
where potential is valued over privilege,
(08:36):
and ultimately, you'llincrease your ability
to scale up and down asbusiness needs shift.
In each episode of "Work Week,"
we conclude by offering our listeners
an action to consider implementing
and a question to reflect on.
Changing your hiring practices
isn't something thatcan be done overnight.
For this week's action,
take a few small steps to movetowards skills-based hiring
(08:58):
and rethink how you assess potential.
Take 20 minutes this week to review three
open or upcoming roles at your company.
Ask yourself, are the degreerequirements truly necessary?
If the answer is no, markthe degree as optional,
and add three to five core skills
that are required to succeed in each role.
Then identify how youcan evaluate these skills
(09:18):
during the hiring process,
such as reviewing candidate portfolios
or administering skills assessments.
Even small steps towardsskills-first hiring
can create outsized impacts
on your talent pipeline andorganizational resilience.
If you're an independent professional
listening to this episode,
consider auditing your own skills
and identifying opportunities
to strengthen your existingskills or develop new ones.
(09:41):
If you're in the processof looking for work,
think of ways you canhighlight your skills
during the hiring process,
such as sharing specific projectexamples in your portfolio,
or highlighting howyou applied your skills
to address an employeror client challenge.
And for the reflection forthis week, think about this.
If degrees vanished from resumes tomorrow,
could your organizationconfidently identify
(10:03):
and hire the best talent?
This question isn't hypothetical.
In a world moving towardlifelong learning,
micro-credentials andself-directed education,
this is fast becoming our new reality.
That's it for this week'sepisode of "Work Week."
I'm Gabby Burlacu,
and this week we explored whyskills are overtaking degrees,
what the research says about this shift,
(10:24):
and how you can take action
to hire the most qualifiedworkers for your team.
If you found this episode helpful,
please share "Work Week"with a friend or colleague
and subscribe so you don't miss
future insights into the future of work.
- [Gabby] Hello andwelcome to "Work Week,"
the podcast where wetackle one big question
about the rapidly evolving workplace,
share timely research about the issue
and explain what it all means for you.
I'm Dr. Gabby Burlacu,
Senior Manager at theUpwork Research Institute
and your host for today's episode.
What you're hearing are my words
brought to you by adigital proxy of my voice
(00:27):
created with the help of AI technology.
In this week's episode, we're asking,
are degrees stillvaluable to the workforce
and are they good indicators of potential
that employers should look for?
Let's unpack why these questions matter.
For decades,
a college degree hasnearly been a requirement
to enter the professional workforce.
Employers viewed degreesas a convenient shorthand
(00:47):
for competence, perseverance,and a baseline of knowledge.
But as the pace of technologicalchange accelerates,
business leaders are finding
that degrees are anincreasingly poor reflection
of what's needed to succeed
in today's dynamic work environment.
Skills, not schools,
are becoming the newcurrency of the labor market.
In a survey conducted
by the Upwork Research Institute in 2024
(01:10):
of 1,250 C-suite leaders,
81% of respondents said theirorganizations are taking
deliberate steps to adoptskills-based hiring practices.
This deliberate shift includesremoving degree requirements
from job postings, implementingskills assessments,
and expanding recruiting efforts
to target non-traditional candidates.
(01:31):
Consider that.
When 8 out of 10 C-suite executives
are rethinking hiring norms,
it's not a fringemovement, it's mainstream.
In the same research,
76% of executives and 78% of CEOs
reported that their topfreelancers contribute
more value than degree-holding employees.
This data suggests that, atleast in the eyes of leadership,
(01:52):
freelancers are outperforming
traditionally credentialed employees.
When it comes to hiring freelancers,
74% of executives in our research said
they don't even consider degrees relevant,
and instead, focus on proven expertise.
These are major indicatorsthat the value proposition
of a degree is changing fast.
A 2024 survey of 1,019 employers conducted
(02:15):
by TestGorilla furtherhighlights the shift
toward and benefit of skills-based hiring.
According to the survey,
90% of companies usingskills-based hiring methods
saw reduction in mishires.
Additionally, 94% agreed
that skills assessmentswere more predictive
of on-the-job successthan traditional resumes.
When the majority ofemployers believe hiring
(02:36):
for skills reduces hiring mistakes,
it's no wonder degreerequirements are falling away.
Finally, the World EconomicForum's Future of Jobs 2025
reports shows that 19% ofemployers are proactively removing
degree requirements toincrease talent availability.
While that may seem relatively small,
it represents a pivotal shift
(02:56):
in how companies build their workforces.
You may be wondering why this shift
towards skills-based hiring is happening.
Well, a few factors come to mind.
First, the speed of change.
In-demand skills are rapidly changing.
As we shared in a previous episode,
the World Economic ForumFuture of Jobs 2025 report
also projects that in the next five years,
(03:18):
39% of worker skills willbecome transformed or outdated.
Colleges simply can't keep pace
with the changing demandsof the labor market.
A degree that takes years to earn
or that was earned yearsago doesn't guarantee
a worker is equipped fortoday's business needs.
A second factor that's increasing
the shift to skills-based hiring
is the increased accessto ongoing learning.
(03:40):
Online education, bootcamps,micro-credentials,
and project-based learninghave democratized access
to skill building at thesame time that the cost
of a traditional four-yeardegree has skyrocketed.
Employers recognize this too
and are increasingly turningto skilled professionals
who have proven experiencerather than degrees
in emerging skills suchas artificial intelligence
(04:02):
and machine learning.
A third factor moving the labor market
towards skills-based hiringis ongoing talent shortages.
Companies are facing skills gaps in fields
like technology,healthcare, and marketing,
where relying solely on degree holders
shrinks the available talent pool.
Skills-based hiring opens doors
to overlooked but highly capable workers.
(04:22):
And finally, the riseof the freelance economy
makes skills-based hiring more attractive.
Freelancers, who are hiredbased on experience and skills,
not educational pedigree,
have proven that results matter most.
With 76% of executives seeing more value
from freelancers thandegree-holding employees,
this suggests that performanceoutweighs diplomas.
(04:43):
The move towards skills-basedhiring is about more
than simply being fair or inclusive.
This shift affects businessesin meaningful ways.
Talent pools are broadened,
performance targets are hit more often,
and business agility is increased.
Does this mean that degreesare no longer valuable?
No, but it does mean theiremphasis has changed.
(05:04):
In highly technical fields,
undergraduate degrees often provide
necessary baseline skills,
and in creative fields,
the time spent getting adegree is time spent honing
important crafts and hopefullybuilding a portfolio.
But for students,
this means that learninghow to apply those skills
and crafts in real-world environments
is more important than ever.
(05:25):
Potential employers may notask about your alma mater,
but they'll wanna see that youwalked away from university
knowing how to apply what you learned.
They'll also want to see howyou're continuing to learn
and build new skillsthroughout your career
to adapt to changing business needs.
Because for employers,
skills-based hiring helpsclose critical skills gaps,
(05:46):
and they wanna see that their hires
are part of a bigger solution.
If you're a leader or hiring manager,
you can't afford to clingto outdated hiring models.
Here's how you can adapt.
First, gain visibility into the skills
your workforce already has
to better understand the skills you need.
In a survey of 1,250 C-level leaders,
we found that only 40% were confident
(06:08):
they knew the skill setstheir workforce already had.
This limited insight intoexisting skills would make it
very difficult to createan effective strategy
for hiring and developingthe right skills.
Second, audit andrewrite job descriptions.
Remove degree requirements
unless they're trulyrequired for the role.
Emphasize skills,competencies, and deliverables.
(06:31):
Encourage workers with the right skills
to apply to your open positions,
even if they don'tnecessarily have a degree.
Third, shift interview strategies
and candidate evaluation strategies.
Move beyond resume reviewsthat emphasize degrees
and a list of prior companies.
Focus on project-based interviews,
portfolio reviews and skills assessments.
(06:51):
Evaluate candidates forboth hard and soft skills
to ensure they have thetechnical competencies
to achieve business outcomes
and the human skills tocollaborate with your team.
Fourth, invest inup-skilling and re-skilling.
Recognize that continuallearning is now the norm
and is mutually beneficial toboth businesses and workers.
(07:12):
Support your employeeswith learning stipends,
online course accessand mentorship programs,
and encourage team membersto share their knowledge
and new skills with others.
Fifth, create skills-based career paths.
Support internal mobilitybased on skill progression,
not just job title or tenure.
Encourage employees tobuild their own ladders.
(07:33):
This approach can help ensureyour organization continues
to address changing skills needs,
and can drive engagement and retention
by offering employeesopportunities for advancement.
And finally, embracealternative talent sources.
Moving away from degree requirements
and other traditional hiring practices
opens the door for you toreach skilled candidates
(07:53):
from sources you may nothave previously considered.
This might include boot camps,apprenticeship programs,
freelance platforms, or othernon-traditional pathways.
Skills-based hiring is aboutmore than filling seats.
It's about creating a more equitable,
effective and flexible workplace.
Prioritizing skills will helpyou realize several benefits.
(08:15):
Not only will you drivebetter business outcomes
by matching talent to current needs,
but you'll also future-proofyour organization
by hiring learners and problem solvers,
not just degree holders.
Beyond that, you'lldiversify your workforce
by opening doors tonon-traditional candidates,
and you'll create an environment
where potential is valued over privilege,
(08:36):
and ultimately, you'llincrease your ability
to scale up and down asbusiness needs shift.
In each episode of "Work Week,"
we conclude by offering our listeners
an action to consider implementing
and a question to reflect on.
Changing your hiring practices
isn't something thatcan be done overnight.
For this week's action,
take a few small steps to movetowards skills-based hiring
(08:58):
and rethink how you assess potential.
Take 20 minutes this week to review three
open or upcoming roles at your company.
Ask yourself, are the degreerequirements truly necessary?
If the answer is no, markthe degree as optional,
and add three to five core skills
that are required to succeed in each role.
Then identify how youcan evaluate these skills
(09:18):
during the hiring process,
such as reviewing candidate portfolios
or administering skills assessments.
Even small steps towardsskills-first hiring
can create outsized impacts
on your talent pipeline andorganizational resilience.
If you're an independent professional
listening to this episode,
consider auditing your own skills
and identifying opportunities
to strengthen your existingskills or develop new ones.
(09:41):
If you're in the processof looking for work,
think of ways you canhighlight your skills
during the hiring process,
such as sharing specific projectexamples in your portfolio,
or highlighting howyou applied your skills
to address an employeror client challenge.
And for the reflection forthis week, think about this.
If degrees vanished from resumes tomorrow,
could your organizationconfidently identify
(10:03):
and hire the best talent?
This question isn't hypothetical.
In a world moving towardlifelong learning,
micro-credentials andself-directed education,
this is fast becoming our new reality.
That's it for this week'sepisode of "Work Week."
I'm Gabby Burlacu,
and this week we explored whyskills are overtaking degrees,
what the research says about this shift,
(10:24):
and how you can take action
to hire the most qualifiedworkers for your team.
If you found this episode helpful,
please share "Work Week"with a friend or colleague
and subscribe so you don't miss
future insights into the future of work.
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