LinkedIn says the next 'holy grail of the labor market' will be ‘proven skills’ rather than college degrees — here’s how to stand out to employers in 2023

The latest data indicates there are 9.9 million job openings across the country, but only 5.8 million unemployed workers, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have more than 4 million open jobs,” writes Stephanie Ferguson, director of global employment policy and special initiatives.

Some experts point to a rapidly aging workforce. On top of this phenomenon, plenty of those who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic never came back. The labor force participation rate currently stands at 62.6%, down from 63.4% in February 2020.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also found that early retirements and increased savings during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as childcare needs, are holding many workers back from re-entering the job market.

A focus on skills

It makes sense that employers, desperate to fill job roles in a hot labor market, might ease back on college degree requirements to expand their talent pools.

According to the LinkedIn report, over 45% of hirers searched for candidates using skills data on the networking platform in the last year — a 12% jump from last year.

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But the job-networking giant speculates this is more than just a response to the state of the economy, and predicts this is a trend we will continue to see in years ahead.

There are many workers out there who may not have a college education — perhaps because they weren’t able to afford the student debt, or because they lost faith in the merits of post-secondary credentials — but do have the work experience and practical skills to back them up.

How to take advantage

LinkedIn recommends workers build on their existing skills and work on adding more to their job profiles.

Many people are already doing this. In the past year, LinkedIn members added 380 million skills (up over 40% since 2021) and certifications (up 16% since 2021) to their profiles.