Companies vowed to hire more workers without college degrees. But a study says they're not following through.

• A new study found companies aren't keeping their promises to hire more non-college grads.
• Some of the companies removed degree requirements from job listings, the study said.
• Others made progress, but then reverted to their old patterns.

Bank of America, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin are among the large companies that promised they'd drop college degree requirements in their job listings.

But their hiring practices are still the same, according to a new study from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute: they're still hiring college grads.

The study looked at roughly 11,300 roles at companies that had previously shifted toward hiring non-college grads — or "skills-based hiring," according to the report — after 2014.

“For all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring was borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” the study concluded.

Companies in the study ultimately fell into three categories.

About 37% made progress in skills-based hiring, including Walmart, Apple, and Target.

Another 45% — including Bank of America, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin — took college requirements out of job postings, but they failed to institute actual changes when it came to hiring.

A third category of companies, according to the study, are dubbed "backsliders" — among them Nike, Uber, and Delta. Accounting for 18% of those in the report, they initially made progress when it came to skills-based hiring, but then reverted back to former patterns.

"Delta is proud of and remains committed to our skills-based talent strategy," the airline's spokesperson told BI, noting that the company hired at an unprecedented level while recovering from the pandemic. "Our focus is hiring the best candidates for every role - regardless of where they acquired the skills."

Nike and Uber did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

A Bank of America spokesperson told Business Insider that 40% of its hires in 2023 didn't have four-year college degrees — a figure that's been increasing in recent years. The company also partners with nonprofits like Year Up, which supports young people entering the workforce without degrees.

"While we can't verify the methodology of this survey based on the information shared, the conclusions aren't accurate," an Amazon spokesperson told BI. "A large number of roles at Amazon don't require a college degree."

In 2018, Lockheed Martin said it announced a five-year initiative to create 8,000 apprenticeships, which it completed ahead of schedule.

"We invest in the right outreach efforts to hire the best talent to reflect our community," a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told BI. "Our people are our greatest asset, and we strive to build a workplace that drives innovation and embraces diverse perspectives."

62% of Americans don’t have a college degree, according to the study, which noted that there are benefits to hiring candidates who haven't graduated from college.

While non-grads see their salaries rise by 25% on average, companies who hire them enjoy higher retention rates.

“If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the report concludes.