Northwestern’s Business School to Waive Standardized Test Scores for Laid Off Tech Workers

The developing number of tech personnel who’ve dropped their employment so much this yr amid a historic business huge downturn may perhaps have a new lifeline: going back again to faculty.

On Monday, the College of Northwestern’s Kellogg’s School of Administration introduced it would welcome in not long ago laid off tech workers wanting to, “transform their profession with an MBA.” The school, which U.S. Information and Earth Report and other main listing makers regard as amongst the country’s most elite MBA packages, claims it will waive standardized exam scores for tech worker applicants. Kellogg says it’s, “stepping in to assistance chart the following chapter for this superior-accomplishing talent.”

The huge caveat nevertheless? This offer you is only readily available to pretty not too long ago laid off tech personnel. In get to be qualified for the waiver, you’d have to have been laid off no further more back again than October 1, 2022, “when we saw the 1st massive layoffs started,” additional a Kellogg College of Management spokesperson in an electronic mail exchange with Gizmodo. It is also not crystal clear as to whether or not non-STEM personnel can implement. All those intrigued are getting questioned to arrive at out to Kellogg’s admissions group to check no matter whether they qualify. The spokesperson went on to say, “People who have been doing work in tech-connected work opportunities, like laptop science, data analytics, product administration, devices functions, etcetera. would qualify for consideration.”

Specially, the waiver applies to round 2 applicants who were lately laid off in the tech industry. In lieu of standardized exam scores these applicants will submit their resumes, transcripts, and an essay detailing their modern experienced working experience. Kellogg, which reportedly has an acceptance rate hovering all over 20%, suggests it will not loosen its expectations for the incoming candidates. Relatively, Kellogg Diploma Programs and Functions Associate Dean Greg Hanifee mentioned dropping the screening is supposed to velocity up the application approach, a decision especially handy for the countless numbers of workers who’ve misplaced their positions in the latest weeks and months.

“Kellogg has often been about top with compassion and discovering to channel analytical skills with personal expertise in company,” Hanifee mentioned in a statement. “Our concentration on the intersection of business and science uniquely positions long run leaders to excel in careers across many sectors and companies.”

Kellogg did not promptly answer to Gizmodo’s request for remark seeking extra facts on what certain kind of tech staff could qualify for the tests waiver.

In a yr marked by turmoil, the previous several weeks have been specially devastating for tech employees. Final month, freshly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk busted in the doorways and right away laid off fifty percent of the company’s staff members, axing whole human legal rights and moral AI groups in the system. Embarrassingly, Twitter had to beg some of people staff to return to the organization days later.

Twitter’s layoffs, when chaotic, paled in comparison to Meta which last week announced it would lay off 11,000 workers. A latest New York Situations report, meanwhile, indicates Amazon could scrap all around 10,000 workforce as early as this 7 days.

Marketplace trackers estimate wherever between 70,000 to 120,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2022. The downturn, brought on by a wide range of components such as increasing inflation, tanking cryptocurrency costs, electronic marketing declines, and post pandemic e-commerce slowdowns, have touched just about each corner of the marketplace. Netflix, Tesla, Coinbase, and Microsoft have all sent some of their personnel packing this calendar year.

Updated 11/15/2022 12:00 p.m. ET: Additional additional info about who’s eligible for the waiver.