A PhD does not guarantee you a job, true. But it should make you employable within the university sector. Currently this is not the case for most ECRs. & many are told if they only work hard enough, long enough, pay enough dues they will get a job. 1/

This is both extremely destructive & patently false. Junior academics are blamed for "failing" in a euphemistically "competitive" job market. This is just a way to divert attention from the real issue. Academia is not a meritocracy. If it were, stellar ECRs... 2/

.... would be replacing established scholars in post at an "alarming" rate. The "entry-level" requirements have risen so high that many established academics could not compete, CV to CV, with junior colleagues. High performing ECRs embody the unspeakable truth of... 3/

... the utterly broken academic system, an embarrassment, a threat. This does not, of course, increase our employability.