Do people follow references much? I don't think anyone has ever contacted my previous employers, despite me having supplied their contact details as a referenc

Do people follow references much? I don't think anyone has ever contacted my previous employers, despite me having supplied their contact details as a reference numerous times over the years. Companies are discouraged from saying anything more than the facts of employment ("We can confirm that Bob was employed as a software developer between these dates...") these days, so there's not much value in the new employer bothering as far as I understand.