Among the most striking points in John Burn-Murdoch’s Financial Times article, “The university degree is losing its lustre”:
1. In the United States, the wage premium for university graduates has declined in each of the past four years.
2. Companies are increasingly evaluating candidates not simply on the basis of a degree, but through skills assessments, interviews, and demonstrated ability to perform the actual work.
One interesting example is Palantir. Alongside university graduates, the company now specifically recruits highly capable candidates without university degrees and continues to develop them through on-the-job training.
To me, this is a very clear indication of where the labor market is heading. While university education continues to have value, academic credentials are increasingly losing their role as the primary proof of capability.
This is exactly where the role of education institutions such as Coders Azerbaijan becomes even more important institutions that keep pace with technological change and continuously direct their resources toward the skills and disciplines demanded by the market.
From the very beginning, our goal at Coders Azerbaijan has never been simply to teach a programming language or a particular technology. We focus on bridging the gap between education and the real labor market, helping people develop practical, market-relevant skills and produce tangible outcomes by working on real projects.
Our AI Development program has been built around this same philosophy. In the AI era, the real differentiator will not simply be “knowing about AI.” The people who stand out will be those who can build real products with AI, integrate systems, solve problems through technology, and demonstrate concrete results.
Author: Seymur Hamidov
Co-founder and Managing Partner, Coders Azerbaijan
Reference: John Burn-Murdoch, “The university degree is losing its lustre,” Financial Times, 2026.
