I have first hand experience with multiple businesses ranging from smaller software houses to tech teams in huge non-tech companies - resumes without a relevant 4-year degree are simply discarded. It's automatic. There is simply never such a dearth of applications that a 4-year degree stops being a feasible first-pass for pruning the numbers down (despite how many great candidates it throws away...).
In fact, it may be the opposite - that huge tech companies are more likely to drop that requirement.
I was going to say that isn't my experience, but then I realized I haven't dealt with sending a resume into the void, that while I send in a resume, i've always landed my next gig through my network.
Building a network is absolutely key, people who enjoy working with you remember you and at some point you just become set
Very true, however this hits the first time job seekers the worst - can’t ever build a network if you never start working (maybe through open source contributions?)
In fact, it may be the opposite - that huge tech companies are more likely to drop that requirement.