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June 17, 2016
SMEs searching for staff with skills not degrees
Small business recruiters are looking for specialists in social media, online marketing and coding; and many say degrees are not important.
New research for eBay, conducted by YouGov, has found that seven out of ten small business recruiters say that a degree is "unimportant" when it comes to job candidates and most are looking for practical skills instead.
The Employee Skills Index from eBay shows that 61% of small business bosses favour candidates who have a strong grasp of marketing and advertising; 51% place importance on a candidate's ability to use social media and 56% are looking for recruits with digital skills. In addition, 41% of SMEs are looking for specialist capabilities such as coding.
The research also reveals that age is no barrier for new hires as small business employers say they are mostly focused on experience. The poll found that 56% of small business employers are agnostic about age when they are recruiting.
Small businesses provide jobs for more than 15.6 million British workers; the latest data from eBay suggests that one in three SMEs plan to hire in the months ahead.
Tanya Lawler, vice president at eBay UK, said: "The nature of business, especially online retail, is changing rapidly. Our business-savvy SMB community is on the look-out for versatile talent - regardless of age, background or gender - with the personable skills and life experience to help them develop and grow."
Commenting on the report, Karl Baxter, founder of Dorset-based firm Wholesale Clearance UK, said: "Being social media savvy is now intrinsic to all of this because the entire nature of word-of-mouth has been changed by new media. Even a packer in the warehouse has to understand that the presentation in the box they are packing could have an on-going social media impact with pictures being taken and shared with the world."
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