SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics

October 3, 2012

In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve

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• This is the sixth part of a series of SHRM/Achieve survey findings titled “Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements.” These results look at post-secondary certificates/ credentials and overall organizational demographics.

• The following nine industries were included in the sample. Overall results are reported first, followed by industry-specific results for the following industries:

Construction, mining, oil and gas

Federal government

Finance

Health

High-tech

Manufacturing

Nonprofessional services

Professional services

State and local government

Introduction

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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• For which positions are organizations most likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials? Across industries, the positions most likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials are salaried individual contributors/professionals (65%), skilled labor (47%) and management (46%). Health was the industry most likely to require such certificates/credentials for salaried individual contributors /professionals (78%), manufacturing for skilled labor (69%) and finance for management (53%).

• For which positions are organizations least likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials? Across industries, the positions least like to require specific postsecondary certificates/credentials are executives (30%), administrative/secretarial (21%) and low-skilled labor (10%). Finance was the industry most likely to require such certificates/credentials for executives(47%), state/local government for both administrative/secretarial (25%) and low-skilled labor (16%). Construction, mining, oil and gas tied with state/local government on the percentage requiring such certificates for low-skilled labor jobs (16%).

• Are there other common certificates/credentials that are not required but are looked upon favorably in terms of hiring and career advancement? Yes. Across industries, such certificates/credentials are most likely to apply to jobs in management (56%), salaried individual contributor/professionals (55%) and executives (32%). Finance was the industry most likely to look favorably on such certificates/credentials for management (62%) and executive jobs (45%), and high-tech for salaried individual contributors/ professionals (65%).

Key Findings

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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For which positions does your organization require specific postsecondary certificates/credentials?

Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

All Industries

(n = 2,163)

Construction,

Mining, Oil

and Gas

(n = 209)

Federal

Government

(n = 124)

Finance

(n = 171)

Health

(n = 352)

High-tech

(n = 176)

Manufacturing

(n = 255)

Non-

professional

Services

(n = 135)

Professional

Services

(n = 350)

State/Local

Government

(n = 391)

Salaried individual

contributor/

professional (e.g.,

analyst, nurse,

engineer)

65% 54% 73% 62% 78% 71% 57% 45% 72% 61%

Labor, skilled (e.g.,

technic ian,

mechanic, foreman)47% 64% 38% 16% 45% 33% 69% 50% 28% 62%

Management (e.g.,

director, manager,

supervisor)46% 46% 44% 53% 48% 45% 41% 46% 50% 42%

Executive (e.g., CEO,

CFO, VP)30% 24% 31% 47% 35% 29% 24% 30% 29% 25%

Administrative/

secretarial21% 18% 23% 15% 19% 16% 24% 21% 24% 25%

Labor, low-skilled 10% 16% 10% 4% 15% 4% 9% 10% 4% 16%

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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Are there other common certificates/credentials that are not required but are looked upon favorably in terms of hiring and career advancement?

Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. Data shown are based on “yes” responses.

All Industries

(n = 1,723)

Construction,

Mining, Oil

and Gas

(n = 190)

Federal

Government

(n = 92)

Finance

(n = 157)

Health

(n = 228)

High-tech

(n = 142)

Manufacturing

(n = 216)

Non-

professional

Services

(n = 135)

Professional

Services

(n = 384)

State/Local

Government

(n = 279)

Management (e.g.,

director, manager,

supervisor)56% 51% 55% 62% 57% 55% 53% 61% 55% 57%

Salaried individual

contributor/

professional (e.g.,

analyst, nurse,

engineer)

55% 56% 48% 57% 53% 65% 61% 40% 57% 54%

Executive (e.g., CEO,

CFO, VP)32% 28% 32% 45% 36% 36% 22% 30% 30% 30%

Administrative/

secretarial29% 35% 36% 19% 26% 20% 27% 27% 30% 36%

Labor, skilled (e.g.,

technic ian,

mechanic, foreman)28% 45% 23% 8% 21% 24% 43% 27% 20% 35%

Labor, low-skilled 13% 18% 5% 6% 14% 4% 24% 13% 6% 18%

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials

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Demographics

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012

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State/local government

Professional services

Health

Manufacturing

Finance

Construction, mining, oil and gas

High-tech

Nonprofessional Services

Federal government

17%

14%

13%

12%

11%

10%

9%

8%

6%

Demographics: Organization Industry

n = 4,642

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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Privately owned for-profit

Government

Publicly owned for-profit

Nonprofit

Other

45%

21%

18%

14%

2%

Demographics: Organization Sector

n = 3,439

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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1 to 99 employees

100 to 499 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees

22%

33%

20%

18%

6%

Note: n = 3,335. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Demographics: Organization Staff Size

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

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Demographics: Other

U.S.-based operations only 75%

Multinational operations 25%

Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same

30%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location

70%

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices

53%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices

2%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices

44%

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or both?

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally?

n = 3,446 n = 3,451

Note: n = 2,460. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Corporate (company wide) 69%

Business unit/division 17%

Facility/location 14%

n = 2,465

What is the HR department/function you responded for throughout this survey?

SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012

Survey Methodology

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials

In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve

• Response rate = 18%

• 4,695 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of nine different industries in SHRM’s membership

Construction, mining, oil and gas = 491

Federal government = 356

Finance = 530

Health = 526

High-tech = 447

• Margin of error +/-1%

• Survey fielded March 28-April 30, 2012

Manufacturing = 526

Nonprofessional services = 479

Professional services = 492

State and local government = 848

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SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012

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SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements

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SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics©SHRM 2012