Just 31% of workers with advanced digital skills held a bachelor’s degree or postsecondary equivalent, according to research released by Amazon Web Services and Gallup. However, 36% of employers report that a postsecondary degree is required even for an entry-level job requiring digital skills. In addition, an analysis of international job vacancy data finds that 51% of jobs with digital skill requirements list a postsecondary degree preference. The report by AWS and Gallup argued greater recognition of certifications could ease hiring challenges.
“Even with the strong preference for a bachelor’s degree, 75% of employers agree or strongly agree that a certification or training is an acceptable substitute for an academic degree,” according to the report. “Additionally, the study found that candidates who obtained a technology certification were more likely to get hired than individuals without one.”
The report also found that workers with advanced digital skills were more satisfied. In its findings, 72% of workers with advanced digital skills evaluated their jobs as close to ideal compared to less than half of workers with basic digital skills. Workers with advanced digital skills also expressed higher levels of job security (72% versus 48%).
AWS and Gallup’s report included a survey of nearly 30,000 workers and 9,300 hiring managers in 19 countries. In addition, Gallup analyzed data from Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass) on advertised job vacancies in 33 countries from mid-2021 to mid-2022.
Keen to be ‘digital nomads’
More than half of marketing/creative workers, 60%, said they would be interested in working as a “digital nomad” for up to 12 months in the next one to three years, according to a study by marketing/creative staffing firm Aquent.
Digital nomads work entirely remotely while traveling to various locations, often including international travel for extended periods of time.
The survey included 3,484 respondents in the marketing, creative and design fields. It took place from June to July 2022.
Does AI really aid unbiased hiring?
An academic paper takes issue with claims by providers of artificial intelligence tools for HR that their systems remove bias. The paper, “Does AI Debias Recruitment? Race, Gender, and AI’s ‘Eradication of Difference,’” appeared in the journal Philosophy & Technology.
Claims studied by the paper include that recruitment AI can objectively assess candidates by removing gender and race from their systems and that removal of gender and race will make recruitment fairer. It put forth several reasons the claims are misleading, including:
“Attempts to ‘strip’ gender and race from AI systems often misunderstand what gender and race are, casting them as isolatable attributes rather than broader systems of power.”
Also, “the attempted outsourcing of ‘diversity work’ to AI-powered hiring tools may unintentionally entrench cultures of inequality and discrimination by failing to address the systemic problems within organizations.”
Eleanor Drage and Kerry Mackereth, both of the Center for Gender Studies and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, wrote the paper. z
Revenue up 36% in online job advertising market
Revenue in the global online job advertising market rose 36% to $31.4 billion in 2021, according to the report “Online Job Advertising: 2022 Market Update” released by John Nurthen, executive director of global research at Staffing Industry Analysts.
The report noted the online job advertising industry is a collection of websites and smartphone applications that offer employers the ability to advertise local, national and/or international job postings.
Millions of employers and staffing firms rely on these kinds of talent acquisition technologies to identify and acquire talent. Online job advertising includes basic job boards, job aggregators, social media job sites and more. z
