来源：《华盛顿邮报》
原文刊登日期：2022年3月28日
Maryland state agencies are experiencing a historically high level of vacancies, the same problem facing many U.S. companies. Some departments have vacancy rates of 10 percent or higher. So, Governor Larry Hogan has taken a page from the private sector and announced that thousands of state jobs would no longer require applicants to have a four-year college degree as long as they can show they have the skills to do the job. Mr. Hogan has launched a first-in-the-nation initiative that, if properly implemented, will help address the state’s labor shortage and open up needed opportunities.
马里兰州政府机构的职位空缺达到历史最高水平，许多美国公司也面临着同样的问题。一些部门的空缺率达到10%或更高。因此，州长拉里·霍根借鉴了私营部门的做法，宣布数千份州政府工作将不再要求申请人拥有四年制大学学历，只要申请人能够证明自己有能力胜任这份工作就行。霍根发起了一项全美首创的计划，如果实施得当，将有助于解决马里兰州的劳动力短缺问题，并提供所需的机会。
With more than 38,000 workers, state government is one of Maryland’s largest employers, and officials estimate that more than half of all government jobs can be staffed by workers with the relevant skills — developed through community college, apprenticeships, military service or previous job experience — rather than a four-year degree. The state will partner with a nonprofit, Opportunity@Work, to identify people with skills for about 300 jobs now open in areas such as information technology and customer service.
州政府拥有3.8万多名员工，是马里兰州最大的雇主之一，官员们估计，超过一半的政府工作岗位可以由具备相关技能的员工担任，这些技能是通过社区大学、学徒、兵役或以前的工作经验培养出来的，而不是四年制学位。马里兰州将与非营利组织Opportunity@Work合作，为信息技术和客户服务等领域约300个空缺职位寻找具备技能的人才。
Critics raised concerns that the effort will lead to a lower-quality state workforce and will devalue the college education many worked so hard to earn, while often going into debt. But increasing numbers of businesses — including Apple, IBM and Tesla — have removed the requirement of a college degree from their job descriptions. According to ZipRecruiter, where 15 percent of job postings in 2016 required a bachelor’s degree, only 11 percent did in 2020 and 7 percent in the first six months of 2021. Clearly, there are instances when a specialized degree or training is needed, but it is often an artificial requirement that unnecessarily boxes out people who can do the job. A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that only 27 percent of college graduates are working in a field related to their major.
批评人士担心，这一举措将导致马里兰州政府员工质量下降，并使大学教育贬值，许多人如此努力获得大学教育，同时还常常为此负债。但越来越多的企业，包括苹果、IBM和特斯拉，已经从它们的工作描述中移除了大学学位的要求。根据ZipRecruiter的数据，2016年15%的招聘信息要求求职者拥有学士学位，2020年只有11%，2021年前六个月为7%。显然，在某些情况下，确实需要专业学位或培训，但这往往是一种人为的要求，不必要地把能做这份工作的人排除在外。纽约联邦储备银行的一项研究发现，只有27%的大学毕业生在与所学专业相关的领域工作。
Don’t get us wrong. College challenges people to think critically and to grow socially and intellectually. But that is not the only way to acquire skills and experience, and unfortunately the price tag of a college education is something that many cannot afford. That they are automatically blocked from even applying for jobs where they might have the aptitude — is wrong. The current unemployment rate for job seekers with just a high school degree is 4.5 percent, versus 2.2 percent for those who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
不要误解我们。大学考察人们批判思考的能力，培养社交能力和智力。但这并不是获得技能和经验的唯一途径，不幸的是，大学教育的价格是许多人负担不起的。他们甚至被自动阻止申请他们可能有能力胜任的工作，这是错误的。目前，高中学历求职者的失业率为4.5%，而本科及以上学历求职者的失业率为2.2%。
It is important, of course, that standards not be reduced and Maryland officials are adamant that will not be the case. Nor, they say, will salaries — in the $30,000 to $50,000 range — be trimmed. Within days of the announcement of the new policy, state labor officials said they received a wave of applications, and inquiries from other states. It is a promising start.
当然，重要的是标准不能降低，马里兰州的官员坚称不会降低标准。他们表示，也不会削减3万至5万美元这个薪酬水平。新政策宣布后的几天内，马里兰州劳工官员表示，他们收到了一波申请，以及来自其他州的询问。这是一个充满希望的开始。