[mywittyname]

> The foreman handed him a broom and he started sweeping that very day.

Exactly. Most office jobs don't have an analog to "broom sweeping." Which is why they have educational requirements. One wouldn't expect to go from janitor to accountant without getting an education.

[ryandrake]

> Most office jobs don't have an analog to "broom sweeping."

There used to be entry-level, no-skill "mail room" type jobs for people with little or no education. I'd imagine many Baby Boomers got their start that way (the same Baby Boomers who are amazed that their Starbucks barista has a PhD).

[ghaff]

Right. And a lot of those jobs have either mostly gone away because of computers. Look at an officeplace from the 1970s and there are a heck of a lot more true entry-level jobs.

And offices actually do still have "broom sweeping" but it's outsourced to a janitorial services company.

[dsfyu404ed]

>but it's outsourced to a janitorial services company.

Who outsources to a temp agency to cover absences and increases in demand

[freehunter]

For IT, I would say that is fulfilled by helpdesk/IT support. At least for organizations that haven't outsourced their helpdesk operations yet.

[TheAdamAndChe]

That's the thing, not all organizations need to outsource their helpdesk to have a major impact on all of the low-level jobs in the area. I'm in the third largest city in my state, I hold several IT certifications, and I can't even get a helpdesk job without a degree here. Enough organizations outsource to make it nearly impossible to get started without a degree plus 2+ years experience. This is the case across the country for most industries right now, and it's a huge source of political instability seen at the moment.