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A new study indicates a new trend in the U.S. job market where companies are shifting away from the tradition of requiring applicants to have bachelor’s degrees to be considered for certain positions.
Notably, Walmart, IBM, Accenture, Bank of America, and Google have already declared that they will minimize the number of jobs requiring a college degree, per The Daily Wire. Major companies are reportedly now looking to follow suit by next year.
A report from Intelligent, published on November 29, states that living costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Additionally, paying college tuition has caused many people to steer away from the idea of getting themselves a bachelor’s degree.
The company conducted a survey that included 800 U.S. employers. The results revealed that almost half (45%) of those companies planned to eliminate the requirement of having a bachelor’s degree by next year.
The survey further stated that 70% of companies have already eliminated the requirement from their application process to make their workforce more diverse. Meanwhile, 55% of companies said they stopped adding the degree as a requirement in 2023, with 4 in 5 employers valuing experience over education.
Walmart had previously said they would no longer require college degrees for hundreds of their corporate positions to remove “unnecessary barriers” that prevent career progress.
In a statement made on its official website, per CNBC, the company shared, “We’re rewriting job descriptions for our campus (headquarters) jobs to factor in the skills people possess, alongside any degrees they hold.”
The retail giant has also said that they will waive the bachelor’s degree prerequisite if the person applying can demonstrate that they have obtained the appropriate skills in other ways that don’t require going to school.
“This creates an either/or option for an applicant: to be considered for the job, you can have a related college degree or possess the skills needed for the job, whether through previous experience or other forms of learning,” Walmart’s statement continued, per Becker’s Hospital Review.
In May, Virginia joined the ranks of 12 other states that had previously removed the need for a bachelor’s degree to gain access to government jobs.
“This landmark change in hiring practices for our state workforce will improve hiring processes, expand possibilities and career paths for job seekers and enhance our ability to deliver quality services,” Governor Glenn Youngkin shared in a statement, per The Hill.
According to Best Colleges, the other states that have adapted to the change include Maryland, North Carolina, Utah, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Alaska, and more.
