Three things have risen sharply since the Great Recession of 2008-2009: inequality, dispair of those without a college degree, and the number of jobs that require a college degree to get hired but not needed to do the work.

Degree inflation is a huge waste of money for companies. Competing for a small pool of college-educated workers forces businesses to pay more for talent.

For certain jobs like a surgeon or quant, a degree is essential, but for many other jobs, both workers and companies can benefit from fewer degree requirements.

The shift toward workers without degrees during the pandemic will likely show if workers who have degrees can perform better than newly hired workers without degrees.

Studies show little performance difference between those with and without degrees outside fields such as professional servic...