I don't think it's purely inflation. A degree shows you can show up to a place for 3-4 years and do something. That's all you need for a lot of jobs so preferri

I don't think it's purely inflation. A degree shows you can show up to a place for 3-4 years and do something. That's all you need for a lot of jobs so preferring those who have a piece of paper saying they can do that makes some sense. I live in Europe where university is free or quite cheap so asking young people to do it for a couple years isn't the worst.. it's quite fun. And I say this as someone who dropped out to work in software engineering instead.