Are you caught in a dilemma of whether to prioritize degrees or skills in your hiring process? Unsure of which factor holds more value in identifying the right candidates for your organization? 

Let's delve into the significant shifts occurring in talent recruitment strategies!

The corporate landscape has undergone significant changes in talent recruitment approach since the 2009 recession and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic. While degree-based hiring used to be the norm, companies are now shifting towards a skill-based approach to finding the right employees.

Degree-based hiring involves selecting candidates based on their academic achievements, while skill-based hiring focuses on hiring individuals with the right set of skills for the job. In the past, employers heavily favored degrees when making hiring decisions. However, changing trends and post-pandemic needs have pushed recruiters to value skills over degrees. 

So, how have these changes impacted the productivity, retention rates, and career development opportunities for non-degree holders within organizations? 

Research conducted by Forbes indicates that non-degree holders are often more productive than their degreed counterparts. 

Additionally, Harvard's research demonstrates that degrees primarily focus on developing soft skills, while hard skills can be easily assessed through pre-screening and certifications. As a result, recruiters now pay more attention to upskilling candidates in soft skills. To address this, recruiters must have to provide details of the required soft skills in addition to domain-specific skills under job descriptions while approaching candidates for the recruitment process. 

This trend has gained momentum as governments, tech companies, and various industries have removed degree requirements for thousands of job positions.

In light of this, it's heartening for you to note that as the industry evolves, certifications and virtual training platforms have become more prevalent. Many organizations and major corporate players now recognize skill authorizations provided by these platforms. These initiatives play a vital role in improving the quality of candidates, reducing the need for extensive corporate training sessions, and allowing professionals to focus more on their real-time work. 

These methods assess candidates based on their performance and knowledge of the specific domain and required skills for the job. The result is a streamlined hiring process that provides high quality talent to the industry. 

With 94% of entry-level employees expressing a higher likelihood of staying in a company that invests in their career development, adopting a skills-based approach to upskilling and advancement can yield significant rewards. It all begins with revisiting the skills map created during the skills-based hiring process for each role. 

Source: McKinsey Report

To sum up, we can consider that the corporate landscape has shifted from degree-based hiring to a skill-based approach, as companies prioritize skills over degrees in talent recruitment. Non-degree holders are often more productive, and organizations practicing skill-based hiring experience higher retention rates and salary increases for non-degreed candidates. 

The industry has embraced certifications and virtual training platforms, leading to streamlined hiring processes and improved candidate quality. Adopting a skills based approach can provide significant rewards and increase employee satisfaction. 

So, as a player of such a diverse corporate ecosystem, let's embrace the new era of hiring techniques to maximize our gains and align with current trends