Employers hiring for entry level office work only ask for college degrees because they can. During periods of relatively high unemployment this acts as an easy filtering mechanism to cut the number of job applicants down to a manageable level. If low unemployment rates continue then employers will reduce the college degree bullet point from a "must have" to "nice to have".

Of course, long term many of those entry level white-collar jobs are likely to be eliminated altogether by automation and offshoring.

Do you have an example of a developed economy where employers backslid on educational requirements? Because I'll believe it when I see it.

Does the USA count as a developed country?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-degree-job-requirement/

Huh, I haven't personally noticed that.

That being said, it is going to take more than one year of labor crunch for this to be reflected in the choices of students to go to school for a job years later. And I've heard of employers who have tightened the screws on older employees without credentials.