Employers Must Stop Using University Degrees as Automatic Job Filters
Israeli tech and business leaders are urged to drop mandatory university degree requirements in job postings, shifting toward task-based evaluations and proven practical skills.
With the opening of the academic year, thousands of young people invest years and tuition fees into university degrees, largely driven by the mandatory degree requirement frequently seen in job postings. Industry managers often complain that academic graduates lack practical skills and up-to-date content, yet these same employers continue using degrees as an automatic bureaucratic filter.
According to research by Yarden Kider at the Israel Democracy Institute, the wage premium associated with a degree often serves as a signaling device rather than proof of applied capabilities. As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms job definitions and workflows, academic institutions struggle to keep pace. While degrees remain essential for regulated professions, employers hiring for analytical, writing, or problem-solving roles must reevaluate whether a diploma is truly necessary.
Avi Snir, founder and CEO of Elevation, emphasizes that the responsibility for shaping the labor market lies heavily with employers. Instead of relying on automatic filters, companies should implement task-based assessments, evaluate portfolios, and test actual candidate capabilities. State employers should also justify every degree requirement, marking a shift toward true merit-based hiring.
