LogFAQs > #950322199

Zeus posted...

...which has less to do with it being needed, but because there's now a glut of degrees. Professions that have never asked for degrees, much less need them now put them in the requirements. It's to the point where employers expect baristas to have at least a bachelors.

It also has to do with a changing job market.

The job market 70 years ago looks a lot different to today's. Unions were substantially more powerful and widespread, which helped even unskilled workers earn decent wages. Manufacturing and resource extraction had yet to be automated and, as such, were the sources of plentiful jobs that required no prior education. And, of course, there were very few "mega-corps" on the scale of Wal-Mart or Amazon or Microsoft that drove up executive pay at the cost of their line workers.

Back then, as long as you had a functioning set of arms and legs, you could find good paying work. Now? North America has largely transitioned to a service industry. Most manufacturing jobs are much more technical in nature (labourers are much fewer in number; you basically need a trade ticket of some sort to make a decent wage) and if you're not providing some sort of service professionally (engineering, law, medicine, accounting, IT services, web design, marketing, etc.), you're probably supporting someone who does. Most of the jobs that involve manual labour these days (farming, restaurant work, warehouse staff, etc.) don't pay very well and can be pretty gruelling jobs as well.

We've transitioned from your muscles being your most important job asset to your brain. It's little surprise to me that employers have started requiring post-secondary qualifications as a result.

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