Most companies have turned to skills-based hiring, but there’s a big problem: Workers are missing 3 key skills they're looking for

young graduate keen to impress at her first interview (Credit: sturti - Getty Images)

The war for talent has already become a war for skills, and a ritzy college diploma isn’t the differentiator it once was.

A great mismatch between skills employers want and skills workers are able to provide has led to an increased focus on skills-based hiring, rendering old credentials like college degrees or years of experience less significant. Everyone from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn chief Ryan Roslansky have stressed the importance of skills-based hiring and skill development among workers. That’s probably great news to those who would prefer not to attend college at all, given the insurmountable state of the student debt crisis.