Big companies like Google, Apple, and IBM are no longer requiring applicants to hold a college degree.
This is a significant change. Historically, employers have required a college degree whether or not it was necessary to do the job.
Is this because colleges are no longer teaching the needed skills, or because there are so many job openings to fill that standards are dropping? Could it be that vocational training and self-taught skills are enough for certain jobs in the modern-day economy?
IBM is now looking at candidates with experience in non-traditional education, such as coding boot camps or industry-related vocational classes.
Glassdoor compiled an August list of 15 big companies that no longer require a degree to apply:
- Ernst & Young
- Penguin Random House
- Costco Wholesale
- Whole Foods
- Hilton
- Publix
- Apple
- Starbucks
- Nordstrom
- Home Depot
- IBM
- Bank of America
- Chipotle
- Lowe’s
This is a welcome change for many jobseekers, as well as high school graduates considering whether college is worth the exorbitant cost. With college tuition soaring nationwide, these companies are giving young people an opportunity to succeed without going into debt for a degree they may not even use on the job.
This change should not alarm those with a college degree, however.
“Academic qualifications will still be taken into account and indeed remain an important consideration when assessing candidates as a whole, but will no longer act as a barrier to getting a foot in the door,” Maggie Stilwell, Ernst and Young’s managing partner for talent, has stated.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
