Penguin Random House scraps degree requirement for future workers

A top publishing house has announced that it is scrapping the requirement for future workers to have a university degree.

The move is part of a plan to attract talent from a variety of different backgrounds, Penguin Random House UK said, adding that there is increasing evidence that there is no simple link between having a degree and performance in the workplace.

It said that it has removed the degree filter from all its UK job advertisements, job descriptions and recruitment systems with immediate effect.

The publisher also has no requirements for A-levels or UCAS points, it said, and only certain professional qualifications will be required in some cases.

Neil Morrison, group HR director, UK and international, said: "We want to attract the best people to help grow and shape the future of our company, regardless of their background - and that means that we need to think and act differently. Simply, if you're talented and you have potential, we want to hear from you.

"This is the starting point for our concerted action to make publishing far, far more inclusive than it has been to date. Now, we need to be more visible to talented people across the UK.

"We believe this is critical to our future: to publish the best books that appeal to readers everywhere, we need to have people from different backgrounds with different perspectives and a workforce that truly reflects today's society."

The firm is not the first to abolish a requirement for certain qualifications.

Last year accountancy firm Ernst and Young announced it was to remove academic and education details, including degree classifications as well as school and university information, from its trainee application process and would decide who to interview based on candidates' performance in online tests.

Meanwhile, PricewaterhouseCoopers said it would no longer be using A-level grades as a means of selecting graduates.