Axios Live: North Carolina employers rethink hiring
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Colin Coggins, Chegg Skills senior vice president and general manager, speaks at an Axios Live roundtable. Photo: Kelly Hudgins, Light Creative for Axios
RALEIGH, N.C. — Apprenticeships, skills-based training, technology and cross-sector partnerships are reshaping how employers identify, train and hire new talent.
Why it matters: The shift beyond four-year degrees is helping businesses build talent pipelines that can adapt faster to changing technology and workforce needs.
Axios' Zachery Eanes and Mary Helen Moore moderated the Aug. 25 roundtable discussion. The event was sponsored by Western Governors University.
5 big takeaways from the conversation:
- AI could elevate employees rather than displace them, said SAS executive vice president and chief operating officer Gavin Day. "It's about teaching them how to embrace new technology."
- Durable skills, or "soft skills" like adaptability and problem-solving, are increasingly important to landing a job and succeeding in it, Chegg Skills senior vice president and general manager Colin Coggins said.
- It's time to "change the narrative" that everyone should go to college, ApprenticeshipNC director Chris Harrington said. "Only 30% of jobs in America require a four-year degree," he added. Pursuing other options isn't "an alternative pathway — it's just a different path."
- There's a "significant shortage" of technology and cybersecurity workers in North Carolina, said Nate Denny, secretary and CIO of the N.C. Department of Information Technology. The department relies on "apprenticeship programs, on internships, to get folks outside of a traditional four-year institution" into agency roles.
- Cross-sector collaboration can help shorten the timeline from education to employment, said Anke Kokrhoun, head HR at Siemens Electrification and Automation U.S. She points to relationships between businesses and schools that share grants, technology and training to prepare a new generation of workers.
Content from the sponsor's remarks:
In opening remarks, Ben Coulter, Southeast regional director for Western Governors University, said the organization is eager to contribute to the talent pipeline in North Carolina.
- "There's a lot of conversation about the merit and worth of a college degree versus certificate, shrinking the four-year degree down to three years — a lot of dynamics in higher education that we're involved with."
