With more than 8.2 million job openings as of June 2024, demand is strong for qualified workers across all U.S. industries, especially in healthcare, technology and manufacturing. In manufacturing alone, there were more than 486,000 job openings in June.

While graduates with two- or four-year degrees are still the main source of talent for organizations across the U.S.—around 5.3 million job openings require an associate or bachelor’s degree—many healthcare, technology and manufacturing employers are rethinking their requirements. Instead, they are focusing on talent with in-demand skills who can work alongside emerging technologies.

New data from the 2024 Cengage Group Employability Report shows that these employers are recruiting and hiring talent with a mix of degrees and industry certifications, creating new opportunities for educators to evolve learning and equip grads with “hirable,” in-demand skills that support today’s workforce.

To understand how employers are building their workforce, Cengage polled 1,000 U.S. employers across healthcare, technology and manufacturing to gain insights into the following questions:

• What are the hiring requirements for today’s entry-level positions?    
• What expectations do today’s employers have for new graduates entering the workforce? 
• Do recent graduates possess the skills needed to enter the workforce?     
• What skills and proficiencies are lacking in new talent?

We’ll just look at manufacturing. Today, 33 percent of manufacturers still require a two- or four-year degree for some entry-level positions. However, over the past year, 57 percent of manufacturers have expanded their hiring search to include candidates with industry certifications and credentials.

In fact, 31 percent of manufacturers say a degree becomes irrelevant within the first year an entry-level worker joins their company. Instead, 37 percent of manufacturers say that a “demonstrated mastery in skills” is the most important trait for an entry-level worker.

With a growing emphasis on skills, recent grads aren’t quite meeting expectations, with 55 percent of manufacturers admitting they struggle to find talent—the highest percentage of the sectors polled. The low expectations of manufacturers are, frankly, disheartening. Some 68 percent of manufacturers do not expect talent to have “little or no corporate etiquette”—the highest percentage of any industry. Another 59 percent expect the onboarding process to take three to six months.

A lack of skills is the biggest barrier to hiring. Manufacturers rank “specific job function skills relevant to their position or field” as the top skill lacking among today’s entry-level worker, followed by “soft skills” and “tech skills / digital proficiency, especially in tools like GenAI.”

To close some of these skills gaps, employers are getting involved and realigning with educators. In fact, half of manufacturing employers maintain a relationship with educators to align curricula with in-demand job skills and needs.

However, employers can’t wait for educators to close skills gaps, as three in four manufacturers plan to hire the same amount or more employees this year. Instead, 37 percent of manufacturers are changing their expectations for talent, and 60 percent anticipate that they’ll need to upskill and retrain their workforce over the next three to five years.

When it comes to tech skills, employers don’t expect talent to be AI proficient. But, 59 percent of manufacturers do believe that candidates should have foundational knowledge of GenAI tools, and 86 percent of manufacturers confirm that they use GenAI in the workplace.

As employers look to close skills gaps and hire talent that meets the needs of today’s businesses, educators and employers have an opportunity to further align and develop learning programs focused on employability. By prioritizing hands-on learning, developing practical skill sets and broadening access to new technologies like GenAI, educators are familiarizing learners with processes, applications and skills that are becoming increasingly important in today’s daily work setting.

While educators have an opportunity to drive new value in learning, employers must also rise to the occasion by creating open, collaborative dialogue with educators to support the evolution of learning programs.

What do you think? What skills do you think are missing in new hires? How can educators address the problem? Share your thoughts: sprovierij@bnpmedia.com.