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Harvard University. (Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Boston Globe via Getty ImagesIt’s college graduation season for many soon-to-be members of the workforce. But how much does the name of the school on the diploma matter these days? Forbes recently posed the question to readers of this newsletter: When hiring new employees, do you care as much about an elite college degree as you once did?
The answer was that many people don’t value an Ivy League degree as much these days—indeed, the overall value of a college diploma is getting a second look when it comes to hiring for certain jobs. For many occupations, a four-year degree still matters—a lot—and as we’ve written about in the past, even employers’ efforts to hire people without degrees is harder than it sounds. But the power of a degree from the most prestigious schools appears to be shifting further.
Thirty-seven percent of those with hiring authority who responded to the survey said state universities were doing better than five years ago in preparing job candidates. But just 14% thought the Ivy League schools were doing better than five years ago. As Handshake’s Christine Cruzvergara told my colleague Emma Whitford, who worked on Forbes’ recent New Ivies list, “there was a notion that the reputation of the school was a proxy for the type of talent you might get.” Today, she says, “I guarantee a majority of us would list individuals that didn’t go to the most prestigious institutions at all” when thinking of their best colleagues.
As alternatives to the traditional education experience proliferate—from schools like Clemson offering computer science masters’ degrees to Google introducing new AI courses, both on Coursera—the popular notion of a “skills-based hiring” movement is gaining steam. How will it change the value of post-secondary education? Will employers really be able to ditch biases about candidates without degrees? Check out Emma’s story about what hiring managers say they’re looking for now in new grads.
POLICY + PRACTICE
As unrest grows on college campuses, more employers are raising concerns about whether the protests could spill over into workplaces, employment lawyers told Forbes in a new in-depth feature from Maria Gracia Santillana and I. And after Google’s move to terminate employees followingafter protests over the company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, more workers are asking about their rights when it comes to activism at work. Both want to know: What, really, are our rights? Maria and I took a deep dive into the misconceptions many workers have about their protections in the workplace—and how a recent NLRB ruling could expand questions about some workers’ protected political speech.
Last week was a bona fide parade of labor policy news—from bans on noncompetes being approved by the Federal Trade Commission to new overtime rules from the Department of Labor. This week, senior contributor Tom Spiggle looks not only at the new overtime rules, but also the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s final regulations on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The regulations in the new law, which goes into effect June 18, “aren’t particularly groundbreaking or controversial,” Spiggle writes, but provide employers with “hypotheticals, examples and explanations” to make it easier to understand their rights and obligations. He walks HR leaders through what they need to know here.
GENERATION Z
It’s May, marking the start of graduation season—one that may look different on some college campuses amid the protests roiling universities across the country. This time of year is also the launching point for many young workers’ careers. Knowing how to manage this generation of workers—including the state of their mental health and what will engage them—will be a big priority, as the latest crop of Gen Z workers and interns joins the workforce this summer.
HUMAN CAPITAL
The labor market showed some signs of cooling in April, as the U.S. added 175,000 jobs, data released by the Labor Department on Friday shows, a number that falls short of consensus economist estimates. With fewer new jobs, the unemployment rate rose slightly in April, climbing to 3.9% in defiance of market expectations for the rate to stay the same from March at 3.8%. Meanwhile, another report last week indicated that U.S. companies cut nearly 65,000 jobs in April, with the technology sector getting hit particularly hard with 47,436 cuts—and 800 lost jobs were blamed on AI.
May began with news of some high-profile layoffs, with Peloton announcing that its CEO Barry McCarthy would step down as the exercise bike company lays off about 15% of its staff. That equals about 400 employees who will find themselves out of work, as Peloton hopes to reduce annual spending by more than $200 million by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. Over at Tesla, about 500 people who work on Superchargers were let go, while reports surfaced of the electric automaker rescinding internship offers weeks before the latest class was set to start. Those cuts come just weeks after Tesla laid off about 10% of its workforce.
STRATEGIES + ADVICE
Here’s how to rethink your workforce strategy when you integrate AI.
Merging two remote companies? Here’s how to get the culture right.
It may sound like a bad idea, but you really should urge your team to be less agreeable at work.
VIDEO
FACTS + COMMENT
New evidence from a survey by the American Management Association suggests young men benefit more from in-office presence than their female counterparts—a worrisome gender divide, writes senior contributor Kim Elsesser. The survey of 1,000 knowledge workers found that employees of all ages preferred hybrid work.
52%: The percentage of men who reported that being in the office early in their careers helped with their professional growth, boosting their chances for coaching and development.
30%: The percentage of young women who said the same, according to the AMA’s survey. While it’s possible women don’t feel they need to be onsite to advance, the study’s authors doubt this explanation, Elsesser reports.
‘A more likely interpretation is that young women are simply not getting the same advancement opportunities—either in or out of the office,’ write the authors of the AMA’s report.
QUIZ
Following a recent vote that lifted a ban on LGBTQ+ members from serving in its clergy, which church will now allow LGBTQ+ individuals to attain such positions?
- Southern Baptist Convention
- Episcopal Church
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- United Methodist Church
