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Maybe you don’t think that way, but for every position I have ever posted you’ll get at least 100 applicants, and each of them take a massive amount of time to interview and get through the system to hire.
That reference is one more thing that helps. Better yet, it’s great when someone knows someone that you do, because then it’s easy to vouch for them.
Like when it comes to dating, are you going to date a random person that you know nothing about, or go out on a date that your best friend recommends who knows you?
That's literally modern dating in a nutshell. Anyone not dating in their 2nd/3rd degree circle is going to the apps.
More than anything, though: I don't really get modern references because they are some of the easiest things to be faked. And if for whatever reason they require your last manager... well, what can you do if you don't have contact? My last professional studio shut down, I don't know if I can get a response from my lead. I'm sure that makes for easy excuses as well.
As for a manager, you may not have their contact information, but seems like relevant information to keep ahold of for professional networking. So yes, it seems like you are making easy excuses that in a competitive hiring environment would quickly get you excluded from the pool of applicants.
You're right and most people are finding out they don't like it at all.
Anecdote: I have a few friends who have never and will never use dating apps, their dating comes from their social circle of various degrees (friends of friends etc..)
We have access to quicker and easier information than ever, but curiosity to escape from the friction these companies create is at an all-time low. They can't even be arsed to ask ChatGPT about ways to escape the apps (which, for now, it should give some helpful answers to). So I find it hard to sympathize with the current young generation on this issue. There's many broken systems I feel us older generations are responsible for fixing, but this feels like one of the points where this generation needs to help itself.
On my end, I'm not in a rush to date, have horrible specs for utilizing dating apps, and know how the sausage works for the apps. I've in fact spent the last few years disengaging from as much of big tech as feasible. So I don't see myself ever using such apps in the foreseeable future.
We’re inundated with fake applicants. References are more than mandatory now. But not enough, the whole system is broken.
Also you come off like a reactionary ahole.