# Sneha Puri argues in Indeed Hiring Lab that degrees still shape hiring [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/sneha-puri-argues-in-indeed-hiring-lab-that-degrees-still-shape-1b2f8714) Sneha Puri’s article was published on January 28, 2026. Puri argues that bachelor’s degrees remain a screening tool in job postings despite the shift toward “skills-first” hiring, and that requirements vary by region. Indeed Hiring Lab’s job-posting data shows that the share requiring a degree has risen since early 2024, even after adjusting for changes in job title mix. Puri says this points to employers increasing formal education requirements within the same kinds of jobs, not just to a changing mix of occupations. She leaves open whether that increase reflects changing role requirements or employers using degrees to shortlist candidates in a competitive market. Puri also finds that regional gaps persist after adjusting for job title mix. She says job seekers in high-cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter degree requirements than those elsewhere. Her conclusion is that policymakers face a challenge: expanding non-degree occupational pathways without closing off opportunities in regions where degrees remain a signalling tool. The data concerns requirements stated in Indeed postings, not every employer’s actual hiring practices; Puri notes that some postings omit education requirements even for roles that require advanced qualifications. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Jan 28, 2026 (2026-01-28). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-08T11:18:23.645Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T21:34:22.907Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T22:03:56.110Z. - [Where Do College Degrees Still Matter in a “Skills-First” Job Market?](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published January 28, 2026. The findings concern US job postings on Indeed and their stated education requirements, not all employers or actual hiring decisions. The methodology classifies postings by the lowest education requirement mentioned; Puri says this yields smaller shares than counting postings that mention higher degrees while accepting lower levels of education. ## Open question What is driving employers to increase degree requirements within the same kinds of jobs: changing role requirements or the use of degrees to shortlist candidates in a competitive market? ## Source-stated Sneha Puri says bachelor’s degree requirements in Indeed postings have risen since early 2024 even after adjustment for job title mix. > After holding the job title mix constant, the share of job postings requiring a bachelor’s degree has been trending upwards since March 2024 - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says regional differences in degree requirements remain after states are adjusted to the same occupational mix. > Even after standardizing all states to the same occupational mix, meaningful differences in the share of jobs that require a bachelor’s degree persist - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says the rise in degree requirements within the same kinds of jobs could reflect changing role requirements or employers using degrees to shortlist candidates. > Whether this is because of the changing nature of roles themselves, resulting in the need for skills attained during formal higher education, or as a shortlisting mechanism in a highly competitive job market, remains to be seen. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says job seekers in high-cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter degree requirements than job seekers elsewhere. > Job seekers in high‑cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter bachelor’s degree requirements than job seekers in other parts of the country. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says policymakers face the challenge of expanding non-degree pathways without closing off opportunities where degrees serve as a signalling tool. > For policymakers, the challenge is to expand non‑degree occupational pathways without closing off opportunities in regions where degrees still serve as a signalling tool. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri notes that some roles may require advanced qualifications even when their postings omit formal education requirements. > implicit industry norms sometimes lead to employers not listing education requirements in job postings despite the role obviously requiring advanced qualifications - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 9d0f33a4-b32e-779b-1964-a0fe68ca8fe6. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-08T11:13:41.749Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: f32d42a6c668514245513a786661319f2464b3b37828d78eb578727f5328645a. Source text hash: a9f04d137a2c3f6ad7b6cadb2347091763dc8c3f4e8e5bcc4d92b49321cb6df0. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-08T11:18:23.645Z Sneha Puri’s article was published on January 28, 2026. Puri argues that bachelor’s degrees remain a screening tool in job postings despite the shift toward “skills-first” hiring, and that requirements vary by region. Indeed Hiring Lab’s job-posting data shows that the share requiring a degree has risen since early 2024, even after adjusting for changes in job title mix. Puri says this points to employers increasing formal education requirements within the same kinds of jobs, not just to a changing mix of occupations. She leaves open whether that increase reflects changing role requirements or employers using degrees to shortlist candidates in a competitive market. Puri also finds that regional gaps persist after adjusting for job title mix. She says job seekers in high-cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter degree requirements than those elsewhere. Her conclusion is that policymakers face a challenge: expanding non-degree occupational pathways without closing off opportunities in regions where degrees remain a signalling tool. The data concerns requirements stated in Indeed postings, not every employer’s actual hiring practices; Puri notes that some postings omit education requirements even for roles that require advanced qualifications. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Jan 28, 2026 (2026-01-28). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-08T11:18:23.645Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T21:34:22.907Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T22:03:56.110Z. - [Where Do College Degrees Still Matter in a “Skills-First” Job Market?](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published January 28, 2026. The findings concern US job postings on Indeed and their stated education requirements, not all employers or actual hiring decisions. The methodology classifies postings by the lowest education requirement mentioned; Puri says this yields smaller shares than counting postings that mention higher degrees while accepting lower levels of education. ## Open question What is driving employers to increase degree requirements within the same kinds of jobs: changing role requirements or the use of degrees to shortlist candidates in a competitive market? ## Source-stated Sneha Puri says bachelor’s degree requirements in Indeed postings have risen since early 2024 even after adjustment for job title mix. > After holding the job title mix constant, the share of job postings requiring a bachelor’s degree has been trending upwards since March 2024 - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says regional differences in degree requirements remain after states are adjusted to the same occupational mix. > Even after standardizing all states to the same occupational mix, meaningful differences in the share of jobs that require a bachelor’s degree persist - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says the rise in degree requirements within the same kinds of jobs could reflect changing role requirements or employers using degrees to shortlist candidates. > Whether this is because of the changing nature of roles themselves, resulting in the need for skills attained during formal higher education, or as a shortlisting mechanism in a highly competitive job market, remains to be seen. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says job seekers in high-cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter degree requirements than job seekers elsewhere. > Job seekers in high‑cost, coastal metro areas are more likely to encounter bachelor’s degree requirements than job seekers in other parts of the country. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri says policymakers face the challenge of expanding non-degree pathways without closing off opportunities where degrees serve as a signalling tool. > For policymakers, the challenge is to expand non‑degree occupational pathways without closing off opportunities in regions where degrees still serve as a signalling tool. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source-stated Puri notes that some roles may require advanced qualifications even when their postings omit formal education requirements. > implicit industry norms sometimes lead to employers not listing education requirements in job postings despite the role obviously requiring advanced qualifications - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 9d0f33a4-b32e-779b-1964-a0fe68ca8fe6. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-08T11:13:41.749Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: f32d42a6c668514245513a786661319f2464b3b37828d78eb578727f5328645a. Source text hash: a9f04d137a2c3f6ad7b6cadb2347091763dc8c3f4e8e5bcc4d92b49321cb6df0. ### passed — 2026-11-08T11:13:41.749Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: 9d0f33a4-b32e-779b-1964-a0fe68ca8fe6 attribution — pass: The reading attributes the analysis to Sneha Puri at Indeed Hiring Lab, matching the byline and publisher. Data findings are framed as Puri's statements or Hiring Lab's data, not as established fact. The page is a single analytical article, not a listing. > By Sneha Puri January 28, 2026 summary — pass: The summary leads with the actor and her argument that degrees remain a screening tool despite skills-first hiring. It explains the adjustment in plain terms (within the same kinds of jobs, not just a changing occupational mix), notes regional gaps, keeps the open question and the policy conclusion, and states that the data covers posted requirements rather than actual hiring. The question reflects the unresolved issue the source itself names. A general reader can follow it. > bachelor’s degrees remain a powerful screening tool within job postings in several regions across the country date — pass: January 28, 2026 matches the article dateline and originalPublished at day precision. The page was modified on 2026-02-13, but the reading relies only on core article text, not later additions. The carousel of related reports is not used. No hindsight framing appears, and the retrieval date is disclosed. The page is a publisher page, not an archive copy. > January 28, 2026 support — pass: Each claim matches a verbatim excerpt from the article body. Specifically, the source supports the adjusted rise since March 2024, the persistent state gaps after standardization, the open question about roles versus shortlisting, the coastal metro gap, the policymaker challenge and the omitted-requirements caveat. The limitation about using the lowest requirement matches the methodology. The page was edited after publication, but the cited passages are plainly part of the main piece. No benefits or costs are invented. > Even after standardizing all states to the same occupational mix, meaningful differences in the share of jobs that require a bachelor’s degree persist media — pass: No media is selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied. Not inventing a link is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/1b2f87143beabb62d2a2bd88bd896d1c7185dac53b719bdbfec68f0226940019/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/sneha-puri-argues-in-indeed-hiring-lab-that-degrees-still-shape-1b2f8714.json)