Eh, it is sorta still that way for degrees. Like only ~30-40% of people with just a bachelors or below end up in the same field their degree is in.
The problem is that there is a lot more jobs that require advanced degrees now. You can't even get an interview for a chemistry gig without a masters in most of the United States now. Back in the 1990's national labs were hiring anyone with a pulse and a bachelors. It is so insane now at national labs that even entry level positions require PhDs.
Its offloading of training to employees. Training is expensive for corporations and conditions have deteriorated enough that no one sticks around at 1 company for a career (because they dont give out raises, etc. you know the reasons why). Churn is expensive for companies and therefore they want to decrease the cost of employee churn - enter formal post-sec education where the employees themselves have to pay $10k or more for just technical education that they wouldve previously been given as part of on the job training, nevermind needing a masters for some of this stuff. Side benefit is that your workers are now indebted and precarious before they even enter their first job, you can treat them even worse and maybe some quit but the reserve army of labor now all have standardized training and education so churn isnt as big a problem.
Eh, it is sorta still that way for degrees. Like only ~30-40% of people with just a bachelors or below end up in the same field their degree is in.
The problem is that there is a lot more jobs that require advanced degrees now. You can't even get an interview for a chemistry gig without a masters in most of the United States now. Back in the 1990's national labs were hiring anyone with a pulse and a bachelors. It is so insane now at national labs that even entry level positions require PhDs.
Its offloading of training to employees. Training is expensive for corporations and conditions have deteriorated enough that no one sticks around at 1 company for a career (because they dont give out raises, etc. you know the reasons why). Churn is expensive for companies and therefore they want to decrease the cost of employee churn - enter formal post-sec education where the employees themselves have to pay $10k or more for just technical education that they wouldve previously been given as part of on the job training, nevermind needing a masters for some of this stuff. Side benefit is that your workers are now indebted and precarious before they even enter their first job, you can treat them even worse and maybe some quit but the reserve army of labor now all have standardized training and education so churn isnt as big a problem.