He also says firms that are strapped for talent are reconsidering the entry criteria for some types of jobs—opening alternative paths to white-collar work.
Insurer Aon Plc, for example, has dropped a degree requirement for some positions and organized its own specialized training via a local community college. International Business Machines Corp. and PwC have also relaxed their credential criteria.
College enrollments are down by almost 1 million in the pandemic, with the biggest drop among men. Lee says that free or low-cost programs have helped lower barriers to entry for some jobs. He cites Google Career Certificates, a program that was initially used by Alphabet Inc. to train its own tech support staff, and has since been made public and expanded.
The majority of the program’s 50,000 graduates identify as African-American, Hispanic, female, or military veterans without a college degree, according to Google.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.