Quite Bluntly,

corporations want to get out of on-the-job training by forcing the training on community colleges and four-year colleges and universities, forcing students to take on monstrous debt. High schools have by and large done away with vocational training which did students a lot of good and started turning into college prep outfits regardless of whether all students had the aptitude or even the desire to go to college.

Corporations are upping the ante for requirements although the jobs never previously required anything much beyond high school.

It's more and more becoming a race to the bottom.