It's not really anticompetitive though. It doesn't make getting another job harder because virtually nobody is getting references. Everyone's on the same playing field here.
Letters of recommendations, or even reference phone calls, are something that are widespread in academia and in entry-level service jobs. Like if you want to be a server or bartender, they want to make sure you were actually showing up at your last job and didn't steal money from the register.
They're not really a thing in the corporate world. Your technical expertise, certifications, and dates of employment pretty much speak for themselves. At least in the US.
There are some people getting references. Most places also ask for references. Informally, all the people talking about jobs found via their network are references.
It is absolutely harder finding a job without references than with references. You also have less leverage for negotiating salary.
"Your technical expertise, certifications, and dates of employment pretty much speak for themselves."
This isn't true at all. Why do interviews if you just make the decision off the resume? Why do code screens or LeetCode?
I have tons of experience and a long tenure, a masters degree, multiple certs, etc yet I'm a low performer with a disability who struggles to even get interviews. But you wouldn't know that by looking at my resume. At one point I was a high performer and a letter of recommendation could have really helped me.
I never said make a decision off of a resume. When I said "your technical expertise", I meant as assessed by interviews, code screens, etc.
I've never even been asked for references at any technical job in my life. HR departments generally do make some attempt at verifying employment, doing a background check, etc.
So no, in these cases it's not harder. There's no leverage either way.
Because what do reference letters even mean? How do you know the person writing the letter is even telling the truth? This is somebody you've never met and don't know at all. How do you know they don't unfairly hold a grudge against this ex-employee because they took it personally when they quit? Or how do you know they don't just write glowing references for everyone because they know "it's tough out there" and "everyone deserves a second chance"?
I always assumed this is why I've never been asked for references in my professional career, because the companies I applied to knew that references aren't worth the paper they're written on.
These are all concerns, but it's still common in stuff like academia and government jobs. Even in industry, I see requests for references on about half of applications these days.
The easy fix here is banning requests for references.
Letters of recommendations, or even reference phone calls, are something that are widespread in academia and in entry-level service jobs. Like if you want to be a server or bartender, they want to make sure you were actually showing up at your last job and didn't steal money from the register.
They're not really a thing in the corporate world. Your technical expertise, certifications, and dates of employment pretty much speak for themselves. At least in the US.