The ‘paper ceiling' in hiring is being ripped open

Telegraph

4 days ago

To the guy I knew at school whose A-level results spelt DUDE, some good news at last: artificial intelligence (AI) means that bosses are finally losing interest in the letters at the bottom of your CV.
Thanks to rapid changes in technology, the so-called 'paper ceiling' – where employers prioritise qualifications above all else, to the detriment of those who didn't excel at school – is being ripped open.
As graduate jobs are being swallowed whole by AI, managers increasingly don't care if you went to the best university in the country or whether your A-level results spell DUDE or ABBA. What they want are people with the skills to do the jobs of the future.
Unfortunately, there's a growing feeling in boardrooms across the country that our education system is not delivering this kind of training.
A record 28pc of all A-levels might have been marked A or A* this year, but high-achieving students have their eyes wide open when it comes to how far these results can take them.
Teenagers know full well that the employment landscape is shifting, with a growing number of companies dropping degree requirements and looking for specific skills instead. Even though more people than ever are going to university, LinkedIn research shows that there was a 14pc jump in the amount of UK job postings that did not require a degree between 2021 and 2024. As a result, the gap between graduate salaries and non-graduate salaries is shrinking.
This is being driven by the impact of technology on the jobs we do, although it is often framed by companies as an attempt to be more inclusive, given the huge costs involved with higher education.
'The advantage now lies with graduates whose skills complement AI – judgment, problem-solving, leadership – not those in roles it can easily replace, such as coding and admin,' says economist Erik Hust, of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Unsure which jobs they'll be relying on next, bosses are instead drawn to real-life experience and soft skills that can't be mimicked by a computer. While these skills can be picked up at university, these institutions do not have the monopoly on this sort of learning.
The change in attitude is stark. While millennials like me were told that university was vital to forging a successful career, with Tony Blair wanting 50pc of all school leavers to go into higher education, almost 70pc of employers now say a degree isn't essential for entry-level roles, according to data published last week by Indeed.
In many ways, the crumbling of the paper ceiling gives young people more choice. More people will opt for a short course or entrepreneurship if it suits them better.