Increasing Educational Requirements in US – Nearly a third (32 percent) of employers have increased their educational requirements over the past five years

Time to hit the books again? According to a new CareerBuilder survey, nearly a third (32 percent) of employers have increased their educational requirements over the past five years. More than a quarter (27 percent) are hiring employees with master’s degrees for positions primarily held by those with four-year degrees in the past, and 37 percent are hiring employees with college degrees for positions that had been primarily held by those with high school degrees.

More than 2,300 hiring and human resource managers in the private sector across industries participated in the nationwide survey, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from November 4 and December 1, 2015.

What Employers Are Looking For

According to the survey, of the employers who have increased their education requirements in the past five years, most have done so for middle-skill jobs:

• Entry-level or low-skill: 46 percent
• Middle-skill: 61 percent
• High-skill: 43 percent

When asked why they are hiring more employees with college degrees for positions that had been primarily for those with high school diplomas in the past, 60 percent of these employers said skills for those positions have evolved, requiring higher educated labor, and 56 percent said they’re able to get college-educated labor for those positions because of the tight job market.

As a result of increasing their educational requirements, employers have witnessed a positive impact on:

• Higher quality work: 57 percent
• Productivity: 43 percent
• Communication: 38 percent
• Innovation/idea generation: 37 percent
• Employee retention: 32 percent
• Customer loyalty: 25 percent
• Revenue: 21 percent

Higher degrees not only boost candidates’ chances of hired, but they can help their chances of getting promoted as well — more than a third (36 percent) say they are unlikely to promote someone who doesn’t have a college degree.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  More Than 1 In 4 Employers are Hiring Employees with Master’s Degrees for Positions that had Been Primarily Held by Those with Four-Year Degrees in the Past, According to New CareerBuilder Survey – CareerBuilder