"Nepotism" is safer, less trust is needed for the randos. It's just what works, saves time and energy for hiring "teams" Some people may have all the qualifications yet stink of bad persona. Cliques survive because they pre-select for hidden attributes, this helps them maintain a sense of power & stability in the realm they govern. Ya can't just put out a list of "hey do this stuff and you're good" if an untrustworthy individual will end up deeply exploiting that set. The only strategy I've seen repeatedly succeed against this is the strat of overachieving to the point of excessiveness. These individuals end up staying at the job longer (and subsequently network with everyone, even beyond the job's range), absorbing more of the skill base because of the prolonged time and effort, and hence, "level-up" in that realm OR take those skills to the next job. Anyone just coasting by can be detected, and if their personality is shit, it's a psychic weight on management. Like it or not, the psychic weight affects every individual that they come in contact with, and reflects on the business. I hate to say it, but from my experience, it's very, VERY much attitude based. People that have their own stuff going on, CAN keep to themselves but are also willing to share, with a get up and "do something" attitude will get hired, will find good jobs that fit them, etc. Laze is dead weight, and right now because of the economy, it's too risky to take on those assets! Otherwise, yes, I think the econ and covid "bailout" loans (PPP) are seriously messing with hiring corpo wise. Then wring in the "message" of the LGBT acceptance zee/zir BS (at the corpo level) and the system's wrapped itself in a plastic bag slowly running out of oxygen