There used to be a time when “college dropout” was no big deal in the tech world so long as you could build things (see e.g., Facebook founder & Oculus co-founder) so to see a Masters degree listed as a “minimum requirement” really bums me out.
I have never remembered a time where "college dropout" was not a big deal in tech. It was such a significant thing that it was often one of the first few facts you would find out about a person behind some technology.
And jobs with degrees as a requirement were often the norm. For a senior position in a research oriented group that might be expected to collaborate with and/or hire from academic groups, totally normal to want a higher degree.
It has always been and is still the case that not having a degree is not a huge impediment if you have the chops -- You will find a place, or a place will find you. But it has never been the case that someone without a degree could ever expect to have equal opportunity to be hired into any job out there.
