Of course, companies still hire highly skilled employees without college degrees, I don't deny that. I mean people who are only skilled will forever be low level employees, no matter how skilled they are. Like I said, have you ever seen a CEO or department head who has no degree and only skills?
Meanwhile, those with degrees but no experience may struggle in the early days of their careers, but once they gain experience. They have more opportunities to take on senior positions in companies, something that people without degrees cannot do.
In the long run, people with degrees will always have an advantage because skills are not that difficult to acquire, it just takes time, but for people with only skills, getting a degree will be a challenge. That's why I say that degrees are not completely useless if you have vision.
Mate in some companies skilled workers earn more than degree holders, its depends on the assignment the company give to them to accomplish, it really not matter for CEO provided the task is been executed well. Skilled workers do more of the jobs, they are the technical aspect of a company, they generate money for the company that they use to pay degree holders.
The reason Companies have to hire a degree holders and put them in the an administrative position is because they believed that degree holders has undergone a long time character and brain examinations in the college and they can manage and control their manners and approach client in a well behaved manners. That is the advantage degree holders has against a skilled workers that has not seen the four walls of the university. While the skilled workers do all the work to generate money for the company, the degree holders brainstorms on how to close deals with clients. Both are important in a contemporary company. To me no one is less or higher, they both accomplish task to move the company forward.