POLL: Small Businesses are Increasingly Dissatisfied With Current Pool of Employees
Jose Nino
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According to a poll conducted by recruiting service RedBalloon, small business index PublicSquare indicated that small businesses are beginning to lose interest in hiring candidates who possess four-year degrees.
The study in question, the Freedom Economy Index (FEI), surveyed over 70,000 small businesses from the time range of October 25 and October 30. The findings of the poll hinted at an increasing state of dissatisfaction among small business owners with regards to the state of higher education. 67% of those responded “strongly no” and 24% of participants responded “somewhat no” when they were asked whether they believed higher education institutions were “graduating students with relevant skills that today’s business community needs.”
“They don’t show up to an interview, and work is too hard, 9-5 is such a struggle,” one of the employers surveyed complained. Another employee commented that “[t]he [t]alent shortage will just get worse because high schools and colleges produce no talent.”
When small business owners were asked whether they were more or less likely to hire a prospect who possessed a four-year degree, the majority expressed indifference, with 41.5% of employers indicating that whether or not a candidate was a degree-holder made “no difference” on whether they hired them or not.
By contrast, 40.6% of employers were either “somewhat less” or “strongly less” likely to bring a candidate onboard with a four-year degree. Only 10.2% indicated that they were “somewhat more” or “strongly more” likely to hire a candidate possessing a four-year degree.
“I only care about skills. If you ain’t got the skills, you ain’t got the job,” remarked one employer. Another employer stated that “[w]e would hire someone with hands-on experience over someone that read about it in a book.”
When questioned if they preferred “a job seeker who just graduated with a 4-year degree or someone without a degree who has worked in your industry for 4 years,” just 2.6% of respondents indicated that they “somewhat” or “strongly” had a preference for candidates possessing a four-year degree.
By contrast, 86% indicated that they “somewhat” or “strongly” preferred candidates who have four years of industry experience under their belt.
“Experience cannot be replaced with education alone,” one employer noted. Another remarked t “[a]t this point, I’ll take the one with talent and imagination, and who didn’t look at their phone in the last 20 minutes.”
Last but certainly not least, when employers were asked if colleges and universities were “fostering free speech & debate; graduating students capable of debating ideas & using critical thinking to evaluate differing concepts,” 96.9% responded with either “somewhat no” or “strongly no.”
It’s becoming clear that universities are not providing students with the necessary skills to be competent actors in a modern-day workforce. This is the product of the wokification of college curricula, which focuses more on indoctrination as opposed to providing individuals with the necessary skills to thrive in the modern-day workplace.
A systematic overhaul of the education system is needed if we want an America that has highly-skilled workers who are prepared to take the US economy to new heights.
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