Penguin Random House to look beyond a qualification when recruiting

Penguin Random House have announced that they no longer require their new recruits to have a degree when applying for jobs (click here for article from The Independent). This follows on from a recent announcement from Deloitte that they are using an algorithm to determine recruitment that considers contextual information such as attendance at an under-performing school.

The approach appears to be a valuable way of improving social mobility in the UK - in part at least attempting to recognize potential talent beyond just the qualifications presented. It may also prove an interesting piece of information for students considering applying for university - if big firms are no longer using a degree as the prerequisite for a job then why run up the huge debts associated with university attendance? Interestingly as well, you can imagine that this approach will not be considered by firms like Penguin and Deloittes if they felt that it would reduce their potential profit-making capabilities - they genuinely believe it will create a more diverse workforce improving creativity and drive. I guess the question for us teachers is what does this say about the value of what we do in the classroom?