https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/28/maryland-state-jobs-without-college-degree/
Some excerpts from the opinion piece:
“Maryland state agencies are experiencing a historically high level of vacancies, the same problem facing many U.S. companies. Some departments have vacancy rates of 10 percent or higher. So, Gov. Larry Hogan has taken a page from the private sector and announced that thousands of state jobs would no longer require applicants to have a four-year college degree as long as they can show they have the skills to do the job. Mr. Hogan has launched a first-in-the-nation initiative that, if properly implemented, will help address the state’s labor shortage and open up needed opportunities.”
“Critics raised concerns that the effort will lead to a lower-quality state workforce and, as The Post’s Susan Svrluga reported, will devalue the college education many worked so hard to earn, while often going into debt. But increasing numbers of businesses— including Apple, IBM, Xpedition and Tesla — have removed the requirement of a college degree from their job descriptions. According to ZipRecruiter, where 15 percent of job postings in 2016 required a bachelor’s degree, only 11 percent did in 2020 and 7 percent in the first six months of 2021. Once overwhelmed with job applicants, employers added requirements as a means of winnowing the talent. Clearly, there are instances when a specialized degree or training is needed but it is often an artificial requirement that unnecessarily boxes out people who can do the job. A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that only 27 percent are working in a field related to their major.”