1. SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and
Education Requirements—Post-secondary
Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve
October 3, 2012

2. Introduction
• 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
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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3. Key Findings
• 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%).
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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4. For which positions does your organization require specific
postsecondary certificates/credentials?
Construction, Non-
Federal Professional State/Local
All Industries Mining, Oil Finance Health High-tech Manufacturing professional
Government Services Government
(n = 2,163) and Gas (n = 171) (n = 352) (n = 176) (n = 255) Services
(n = 124) (n = 350) (n = 391)
(n = 209) (n = 135)
Salaried indiv idual
contributor/
professional (e.g., 65% 54% 73% 62% 78% 71% 57% 45% 72% 61%
analyst, nurse,
engineer)
Labor, skilled (e.g.,
technician, 47% 64% 38% 16% 45% 33% 69% 50% 28% 62%
mechanic, foreman)
Management (e.g.,
director, manager, 46% 46% 44% 53% 48% 45% 41% 46% 50% 42%
superv isor)
Executiv e (e.g., CEO,
30% 24% 31% 47% 35% 29% 24% 30% 29% 25%
CFO, VP)
Administrativ e/
21% 18% 23% 15% 19% 16% 24% 21% 24% 25%
secretarial
Labor, low-skilled 10% 16% 10% 4% 15% 4% 9% 10% 4% 16%
Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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5. Are there other common certificates/credentials that are not
required but are looked upon favorably in terms of hiring and
career advancement?
Construction, Non-
Federal Professional State/Local
All Industries Mining, Oil Finance Health High-tech Manufacturing professional
Government Services Government
(n = 1,723) and Gas (n = 157) (n = 228) (n = 142) (n = 216) Services
(n = 92) (n = 384) (n = 279)
(n = 190) (n = 135)
Management (e.g.,
director, manager, 56% 51% 55% 62% 57% 55% 53% 61% 55% 57%
superv isor)
Salaried indiv idual
contributor/
professional (e.g., 55% 56% 48% 57% 53% 65% 61% 40% 57% 54%
analyst, nurse,
engineer)
Executiv e (e.g., CEO,
32% 28% 32% 45% 36% 36% 22% 30% 30% 30%
CFO, VP)
Administrativ e/
29% 35% 36% 19% 26% 20% 27% 27% 30% 36%
secretarial
Labor, skilled (e.g.,
technician, 28% 45% 23% 8% 21% 24% 43% 27% 20% 35%
mechanic, foreman)
Labor, low-skilled 13% 18% 5% 6% 14% 4% 24% 13% 6% 18%
Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. Data shown are based on “yes” responses.
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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6. SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and
Education Requirements—Post-secondary
Certificates/Credentials
Demographics
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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7. Demographics: Organization Industry
State/local government 17%
Professional services 14%
Health 13%
Manufacturing 12%
Finance 11%
Construction, mining, oil and gas 10%
High-tech 9%
Nonprofessional Services 8%
Federal government 6%
n = 4,642
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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8. Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately owned for-profit 45%
Government 21%
Publicly owned for-profit 18%
Nonprofit 14%
Other 2%
n = 3,439
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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9. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99 employees 22%
100 to 499 employees 33%
500 to 2,499 employees 20%
2,500 to 24,999 employees 18%
25,000 or more employees 6%
Note: n = 3,335. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
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10. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.- Is your organization a single-unit organization or
based operations (business units) only a multi-unit organization?
or does it operate multinationally? Single-unit organization: An organization
in which the location and the 30%
U.S.-based operations only 75% organization are one and the same
Multi-unit organization: An organization
70%
Multinational operations 25% that has more than one location
n = 3,446 n = 3,451
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and
practices determined by the multi-unit
What is the HR department/function you headquarters, by each work location or both?
responded for throughout this survey?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
53%
policies and practices
Corporate (company wide) 69%
Each work location determines HR policies
Business unit/division 17% 2%
and practices
Facility/location 14% A combination of both the work location
and the multi-unit headquarters determine 44%
n = 2,465
HR policies and practices
Note: n = 2,460. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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11. SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and
Education Requirements—Post-secondary
Certificates/Credentials
In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve
Survey Methodology
• 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
 Manufacturing = 526
 Federal government = 356
 Nonprofessional services = 479
 Finance = 530
 Professional services = 492
 Health = 526
 State and local government = 848
 High-tech = 447
• Margin of error +/-1%
• Survey fielded March 28-April 30, 2012
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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12. SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills
and Education Requirements
About SHRM Research
• For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys
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www.shrm.org/customizedresearch
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SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
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