I think the issue is so much of the labor market is based on who you know, in particular if you know wealthy/connected people you can get job opportunities, and this sort of amplifies the well connected's leg up on the unconnected.
I think the knowing-people effect is a better criticism about referrals generally. Given that most companies already accept referrals, at least with this setup, employees would think twice about referring someone who would be let go before 2 months.
As a (formerly?) unconnected person – You can become connected. It just takes effort.
My favorite way to think about it comes from an old dating forum: Okay so you want to date a super model … how many super models are you meeting every day? If you aren’t where the super models are, you aren’t going to date a supermodel.
Same with networking. Go where the people you want to meet are. Then meet them.
Want a big network in tech? Go be an intern (or whatever you can get) at a large tech company. Have lunch with a new person every day. Or every few days. Spelunk from there
Want a big network of complainers? Go hang out on twitter. There’s lots of us and we love to complain about everything.
Once upon a time on this very forum I posted a blog: “Hey I’m coming to the Bay Area for 2 months, it’s my first time in USA. Who wants to hang?” that got me a string of coffee dates with dozens of people and it was amazing. I failed to keep in touch but most of us still recognize each other online.
Sure, being unconnected is a disadvantage, but that doesn't mean it's one we should fight against. Having referrals and a network means you're not just a good coder, you are someone other people are willing to stand up for - that's a real world advantage in someone you hire. Ignoring that out of some sense of "fair" (if it's even "fair") would be a bad idea.
