Ken Rusk, 'Blue Collar Cash' author and former construction worker, discusses survey data indicating employers value
Ken Rusk, 'Blue
Collar Cash' author and former construction worker, discusses survey data
indicating employers value blue collar workers' experience and skills more than
a college education.
Employers don't
value college degrees as much as originally thought, recent survey data shows,
and the disdain is behind a restored appreciation for blue-collar job-seekers
that bring skill and experience over education.
The study, known
as the Freedom Economy Index (FEI), a joint project of job recruiting service
RedBalloon and PublicSquare, surveyed opinions from 70,000 small businesses
between Oct. 25 and Oct. 30, with 905 respondents, a 3% margin of error and a
95% confidence level.
When asked about
the "return on investment" of higher education, a whopping 67% of
participating employers responded "strongly no" when asked if they
believed institutions of higher education were "graduating students with
relevant skills that today's business community needs."
An additional
24.4% responded with "somewhat no" while the remaining 8.7% responded
either "somewhat yes," "strongly yes," or
"other."
"This doesn't
surprise me at all," former construction worker and "Blue Collar
Cash" author Ken Rusk said Sunday on "FOX & Friends
Weekend."
"Colleges
used to be a place where you would get a degree, and that would only enhance an
effective human being, an already effective human being. Now we're seeing
colleges attach these degrees to people that literally can't come out and do
some of the life skills that we need."
Some who
participated in the survey echoed that sentiment.
"The talent
shortage will just get worse because high schools and colleges produce no
talent," one employer said.
Another called for
skills to be taught in high school, while a third responded to the survey
question with "Absolutely not," calling advanced education a
"waste" from the perspective of a former college graduate.
Rusk said
job-seekers with college degrees pose a challenge in another way.
"They've
[graduates] kind of been hoodwinked a little bit to think that the degree is
the thing that's going to carry the day completely," he said. "You
have to remember that it's something that you're supposed to use to enhance the
skills that you already have, and that's what we're seeing now. They're relying
way too much on that piece of paper or that degree, rather than getting some of
the experiences that they need [and] that these companies really want."
The survey also
asked employers if they are more or less likely to consider a job-seeker with a
four-year degree.
Technical
companies are having a hard time replacing older trade workers who are
retiring. There haven't been enough young people training to fill open roles.
Only 10% of
participants said a college degree would make a potential job-seeker more
hirable. On the other hand, 41.5% said the degree makes "no
difference," while over 40% said a college degree would make them less
likely to hire a prospective applicant.
"Let's use
this to apply the law of supply and demand in our favor here, where supply is
low and demand is high. That's where the money goes," Rusk said, stressing
the importance of learning a trade in today's labor market.
"You can get
a degree, or you can get a certificate in a lot of these trades for a tenth or
a fifth of what you're paying for college. Not only that, but you're doing it
in half the time, and you're earning money while you're learning versus paying
to learn and then hoping you get a job that matches up with that debt."
Long, slow burn
getting trade employees back into workforce: Mike Rowe
The workplace
shift away from requiring college degrees has taken hold of several major
companies, including Walmart, IBM, Accenture, Bank of America and Google, as
the costs associated with higher education continue to skyrocket.
High college costs
have also fueled long-term discussions about student loan debt and relief from
the federal government.
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