It’s not uncommon these days to hear employers, HR pros, and managers lament the lack of skills and workforce preparation they’re seeing among new hires—even those with freshly minted degrees.
It may come as no surprise, then, that even these recent grads feel they’re unprepared to take on the work world.
Recent Grads Lack Career Confidence
Cengage Group’s 2023 edition of The Employability Survey takes a look at the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on new graduates’ feelings of confidence as they enter the workforce.
Perhaps not surprisingly, many feel they’re not prepared.
Half of the graduates responding to the survey indicated they feel threatened by the growth of AI (46%) and their workforce readiness (52%)—61% say they’ll need to develop or strengthen their digital skills to acclimate to AI.
Is College Really Worth It?
The massive changes and impacts from technology that graduates are experiencing are also causing many to question whether degrees really matter or hold value. Employers are following suit, with many dropping degree requirements altogether for certain jobs. Cengage reports that fewer employers are requiring degrees for entry-level roles—50% in 2023 compared with 62% in 2022.
In fact, only 41% of the graduate respondents felt their college degree programs taught them the skills needed for their first jobs. That’s down significantly from 2022 at 63%.
Internships May Matter
One of the impacts on these feelings of unpreparedness may be a drop in the number of students participating in internships. Fewer than half (47%) indicated they had participated in internships, apprenticeships, or other hands-on learning programs. That compares with 63% in 2022.
Even those who did participate in these types of programs indicate they didn’t receive any guidance from their schools to help them find relevant internships; 35% said this was the case.
Students and graduates feel, though, that their schools should bear some responsibility for ensuring they’re prepared for the work world—49% said their educational institutions should be held accountable for their ability to land a job after graduation.
A Role for Employers
Despite these feelings, and any actions schools may or may not consider, it’s clear employers will have to step up to take on at least some of the responsibility for ensuring employees have the knowledge, skills, and competencies to meet their current needs.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.