It sounds like a major shake up is going on.
It's interesting in light of the thread the was recently bumped up from the guy that volunteered to teach some art design skills at Bethel several years back. He described a very dysfunctional organization where many didn't have adequate skills for the job they were doing and where a million dollar piece of equipment was sitting unused because no one knew how to operate it. Probably nothing much has changed since then.
It's true you can do these type of jobs without a college degree, but it is much harder to gain these skills without one, as most companies want to have some proof you have an aptitude and some experience before they are willing to invest time training you. Because they are so down on higher education they are severely limiting the number of potential qualified applicants. Those who do have such skills probably have well paying jobs and may not be interested in working for nothing, with no medical insurance, substandard living conditions and bad food.