Statistically most jobs are found via networking. So in the secular world it’s also who you know. Look at the public school system if you think that’s some merit based wonderland.
The frum world does suffer more from it because it’s more family based and there’s less quality control. The onus of the yeshiva is not on the teacher to teach, but on the students to learn, and that can be okay for 50 percent of the class, but not the other 50 percent who get shifted into gimmel classes and then squeezed out completely.
Today there is much more attention on the problem of teaching students, but there also needs to be other wholesome options besides the standard yeshiva track.
Right now students have a choice between the standard yeshiva-shidduch track and going OTD. We need to create better options for those who are not able or emotionally ready for the first track otherwise they end up on the streets.