Is a degree still enough?

Written by: Steven (25-A4), Vivian (25-I3), Megan (25-I6)

Designed by: Giselle (25-E3)

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In October 2025, the UK Department of Education announced that as part of efforts to lower the proportion of young people in the country who are NEET (“Not in Education, Employment, or Training”), a new post-16 educational pathway would be opened. From 2027, after completing their GCSEs, students will have the opportunity to take the very first V-Levels (Vocational Levels).

Unlike the existing T-Levels (Technical Levels), a V-Level is equivalent in size to one A-Level, allowing students to mix vocational, hands-on learning with academic A-Levels in flexible, customised post-16 study programmes. In contrast with the current T-Levels, which are highly specialised courses, V-Levels focus on vocational skills that are applicable to a wide range of job options. Such a move serves a dual purpose: the V-Levels can help to both better address employer needs and open more doors for young people in the UK.

For various reasons such as perceived prestige, it may have been difficult in previous years to envision any government in the developed world enacting such a policy to bring vocational education to the fore. But the fact it is happening today is just another indication of a gradual shift towards skills-based hiring. Ever more UK and international employers prioritise practical, transferable skills over formal qualifications alone.

This trend has existed alongside gradual but steady declines in the employment rate of fresh graduates in recent years. After the post-pandemic hiring spike, where unemployment rates fell sharply, the proportion of fresh graduates who are either unemployed or not in full-time permanent employment has steadily increased. This pattern is evident across the developed world, including in Singapore.

Taken together, these trends raise an important question: in a rapidly evolving job market, is a degree still enough?

The uphill battle for employment

The Ministry of Manpower’s 2025 Job Vacancies Report revealed a trend that seemed unlikely just a decade ago, when a degree was seen almost universally as the standard for specialised training and competence. Today, such expertise can increasingly be acquired from alternative routes, causing degrees to play a less central role during some parts of the hiring process. As a result, academic qualifications were not the main hiring criterion for 79.6% of job vacancies last year, up from 78.8% in 2024 and 74.9% in 2023, even in spite of Singapore’s academic-oriented culture. This shift is especially pronounced in high-growth, high-performance sectors such as software development, data analytics, technology, finance, and engineering, which are among the most lucrative and strategically important industries for Singapore today.

While driven by multiple factors, the move away from formal certifications has been reinforced by large multinational corporations with the data and resources to better evaluate job performance. Their findings have indicated that success in the workplace correlates more strongly with the possession of practical expertise and experience than simply academic credentials, which more often simply reflect theoretical knowledge. 

Ever since, many large technology firms have expanded their hiring criteria to adopt a more holistic, skills-based approach. Between 2017 and 2022, the proportion of job postings at Google that required a college degree dropped from 93% to 77%. In the same vein, IBM launched an apprenticeship program under the slogan “No Degree? No Problem!” in 2017 and even removed bachelor’s degree requirements from half of its job openings in 2021. These practices are not merely symbolic either: today, nearly 20% of IBM’s United States workforce consists of employees without a degree.

Beyond formal degrees, companies today value attributes such as curiosity, problem-solving skills, and the capacity for continuous growth. This kind of recruiting is becoming increasingly common in certain sectors, especially in a progressively AI-driven global economy. A report from Morgan Stanley in 2025 has anticipated that AI could potentially impact up to 90% of occupations, accelerating the need for adaptability and flexibility. Consequently, firms now focus on candidates whom they evaluate to be capable of thriving in a fast-changing landscape. Rather than relying on existing knowledge, the key now lies in one’s aptitude to respond to what lies ahead.

The reality of going without a degree  

A common concern remains: what about job security? On average, university graduates aged 25 and above experience a lower unemployment rate of approximately 2.5%, compared to 4.2% for high school graduates and 6.2% for those without a diploma. Salary disparities between degree holders and non-degree holders also persist worldwide, with tertiary-educated workers (Bachelor’s or equivalent) earning, on average, over 50% more than those with only upper secondary education across OECD countries.

Despite this shift, the importance of formal qualifications remains deeply embedded in economies like South Korea, China, Japan, and Singapore, which still follow largely traditional education-to-employment pathways. In these economies, academic performance still plays a primary role in university admissions and early-career hiring. In South Korea, the government is attempting to decentralise academic elitism by moving towards more holistic education, but high-ranking universities in Seoul often remain the pinnacle of academic success for the majority of citizens. Closer to home, while the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have factored aptitude-based considerations into their admissions process, academic standing remains a primary consideration, with A-level grades and rank points still being crucial for university applications.

Workplaces are no different: employers utilise degrees not only as a screening mechanism to manage large applicant pools, but also often as a proxy for desirable traits like intellectual ability, discipline, and the capacity for complex work. A degree from a reputable university thus remains seen as a certification of a candidate’s competence and baseline quality.

An uncertain future

With the rise of AI, the future of the job market looks increasingly uncertain. However, these shifts do not render the future entirely bleak. Certain human attributes — such as empathy, trust, and independent ethical decision-making — are currently difficult for AI to replicate at human-equivalent levels.

And regarding the question of whether a degree is still relevant and worthwhile, the answer has to be a qualified yes. They are no longer everything, but globally, evidence shows that even with shifting tides today, degrees are still highly advantageous to long-term success. But as modern technologies and hiring patterns continue to threaten their value, it becomes imperative to tailor education systems to this volatile age.

Indeed, initiatives like the V-Levels in the UK already reflect a growing recognition that education must evolve alongside the workplace. Universities around the world have adapted through the adoption of technology and the expansion of interdisciplinary programmes and internship opportunities. But the effectiveness of these policies is constrained by structural inertia and the sheer speed of change. The education-employability mismatch will persist, so it is crucial for students to make their own efforts to stay relevant.

Ultimately, a degree may still be the key to opening doors, but now it is the ability and willingness to learn, adapt, and apply skills under shifting labour demand that will define how far one goes.