Recent graduates and HR leaders agree schools fall short, at great cost to both parties. 

A new survey sponsored by Hult International Business School reveals that traditional undergraduate education programs are not adequately preparing students for the workplace, to the detriment of both employees and companies. 

Startling feedback from respondents – including less than a quarter (24%) of recent college graduates who say they have all the skills they need for their current role – highlights the need for a new strategy from traditional degree programs. The survey also found that 77% of recent graduates say they learned more in six months on the job than during their entire undergraduate experience; and that a whopping 96% of HR leaders believe schools need to take more responsibility for workforce training. 

Key findings

Key findings of the new survey, which queried 800 HR leaders and 800 full-time employees (1,600 total respondents) at U.S. organizations, offer a better understanding of how younger workers are faring at work. Employee respondents were ages 22-27, in full-time business roles, and had received an undergraduate degree within the past three years. Main takeaways include: 

Most recent graduates say their traditional undergraduate education let them down:   

• 77% say they learned more in 6 months at their job than in their entire 4-year education.  
• 85% wish their college had better prepared them for the workplace, and just 24% say they have all the skills they need for their current role. 
• 87% say they received better job training from their employer than they did from their undergraduate education. 
• 55% say their college education didn’t prepare them at all for their job. 

HR leaders agree colleges are not adequately preparing workers, at a cost to the companies that hire them: 

• 96% say colleges need to take more responsibility for training people for the workplace.  
• 75% say most college educations aren’t preparing people at all for their jobs.  
• 91% say it costs more to on-board and train recent graduates versus more experienced employees, with 69% saying it costs at least twice as much.  
• HR leaders estimate they save more than USD $4,500 in training costs when an employee can “hit the ground running.”  

Despite widespread talent shortages, most companies are avoiding hiring recent graduates:  

• 98% of leaders say their organization is struggling to find talent, yet 89% say they avoid hiring recent graduates. 
• Leaders say the top reasons are because recent graduates don’t have real-world experience (60%), they lack a global mindset (57%), they don’t know how to work well on a team (55%), it costs too much to train them (53%), they don’t have the right skill sets (51%), and they have poor business etiquette (50%).  
• Leaders report that instead of hiring a recent graduate, they would rather hire a freelancer (45%), recruit a retired former employee (45%), have a robot/AI do their job (37%), or leave the position unfilled (30%). 
• At companies that hired recent graduates within the past year, 78% of HR leaders admit they’ve already fired at least some of them.  

Graduates report they didn’t receive enough guidance when selecting their degree — and many have regrets: 

• 94% of recent graduates have regrets about their degree, and 43% feel doomed to fail because they chose the wrong degree.  
• About two-thirds wish they’d majored in another field (64%) and say their degree did not prepare them well for their job (68%) or provide them with the skills they need (64%).  
• Among those who feel they chose the wrong degree, 84% say this has affected their financial future (e.g., ability to get promotions and raises) and 82% say it’s affected their mental health.  
• 50% say they didn’t receive enough guidance when selecting their major / degree; many believe their college (79%) and high school (72%) guidance programs / counselors are at least “a little” to blame for their degree choice. 

Respondents agree having a business undergraduate degree is an advantage in the workplace: 

• 62% of HR leaders say employees with undergraduate business degrees are more skilled, and 91% say it takes less time to on-board and train them compared to those with degrees in other fields.  
• 95% say their company is more likely to hire recent graduates with an undergraduate business degree and 82% offer higher starting salaries to these graduates.  
• 97% of HR leaders say it’s important that new hires have a strong foundational understanding of business and technology topics such as AI, data analytics, and IT. 
• Among recent graduates without an undergraduate business degree, 67% wish they had gotten one, noting that it would have given them a more comprehensive skillset (36%), made them more employable (33%), and given them more practical, real-world experience (31%).  

“Traditional undergraduate curriculum has not kept pace with an evolving global workplace, and the chasm between what’s being taught and what employers need has become more apparent,” said Martin Boehm, EVP & Global Dean of Undergraduate Programs at Hult.

“Schools need to prepare students in new ways, with a focus on building both the skills and mindsets needed for continuous learning in a rapidly changing world.” 

From theory to skills + mindsets 

The survey also highlights a shift in the types of skills employers want from new hires, with traditional programs missing the mark when it comes to workforce preparation. More than 90% of the HR leaders surveyed emphasized the growing importance of human or interpersonal skills in the workplace. Yet teaching competencies like communication and collaboration are areas where students feel most current college programs are falling short: 

HR leaders overwhelmingly say new hires should bring the following mindsets to their new roles: 

• Communication (98%) 
• Curiosity & willingness to learn (93%) 
• Collaboration (92%) 
• Creativity (90%) 
• Critical thinking (87%) 

And at least 9 out of 10 HR leaders say it’s important that colleges provide the items shown in the chart below, but few recent graduates say their undergraduate education provided these things:

Meanwhile, only about half (or less) of HR leaders think recent graduates “always” or “often” exhibit the following important mindsets when they first begin working: 

• Growth mindset (51%) 
• Strong understanding of ethics (49%) 
• High level of self-awareness (46%) 
• Entrepreneurial thinking (44%) 
• Global perspective (41%) 

Enter AI 

Not surprisingly, both young workers and HR leaders noted the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in current and future roles: 

A focus on AI education in college is also key: 

• Most recent graduates say knowing how to use AI would help them be more productive and efficient (88%), more innovative (82%), improve their decision-making and problem-solving (80%), advance their career (80%), improve the quality of their work (80%), and provide greater job security (78%).  
• 86% believe AI will disrupt their profession in the next 1–2 years, but just 23% feel completely prepared to integrate AI in their role. 
• 97% of HR leaders say it’s important that new hires have a strong foundational understanding of technology-related topics such as AI, data analytics, and IT, yet just 20% of recent graduates say they have this level of understanding. 
• While it’s promising that 44% of recent graduates say they received some form of AI training or education in college, 87% wish their college had provided more training. 
• 94% of graduates who received AI training in college say this has helped their career, by giving them more job stability (47%), more respect at work (42%), faster promotions (34%), and a higher starting salary (34%). 

***** 

For more information about the survey or to speak with a Hult spokesperson, please contact Erin Brown, Hult Global PR Director, at erin.brown@hult.edu. 

Methodology for Workplace Intelligence Survey, sponsored by Hult International Business School 

Research findings are based on a survey conducted by Walr between October 9 to 28, 2024. In total, 1,600 full time employees in the US completed the survey. The survey targeted HR leaders (n=800) and Employees aged 22-27 who are recent graduates and work in business roles (n=800).  

The survey asked questions to understand if recent college graduates — specifically those in business roles — enter the workforce with relevant skillsets and are adequately prepared for the world of work more broadly. 

Respondents were recruited through a number of different mechanisms, via different sources to join the panels and participate in market research surveys. All panelists have passed a double opt-in process and completed on average 300 profiling data points prior to taking part in surveys. Respondents are invited to take part via email and are provided with a small monetary incentive for doing so. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 0.8 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.