Specifically, employers look for a degree when the market for a particular line of work is saturated. Practically speaking, an employer can only evaluate a handful of people who are vying for a job, so filtering out everyone without a degree is a quick, and legally accepted, way to cull applicants down to smaller numbers.

The problem is that if you are trying to compete in a saturated market, you are already going to lose as there is always someone who is better, faster, and willing to work for less money, leaving the degree to be of no great benefit to you, with respect to getting a job.