The Reality Of Overqualification - Are People Getting Overqualified?

Yes, let's face it. We are getting overqualified, truth be told. Not only in Naija but all over the world.
Someone was telling me today that he attended an interview for Google in the UK. They wanted a Phd! Come on, a Phd to do what? Even Larry and Sergey didn't complete their Phds.

There was a time that advanced scholarship was pursued solely for academics or research. Now you need any number of degrees and/or certifications to hold down a basic straightforward job that requires little more than commonsense, as opposed to Laplace, Fourier, or Lagrange's equations. People cite 'competition' as the reason for all this, and these companies claim they are using these new criteria to generate more competition for their jobs. Are they, or are they just ignoring the basic values required to do a simple straightforward job?

There are a few questions that come to mind:

1. Are all these qualifications necessary to hold down a job in today's economy?
2. Are employers benefiting from any perceived knowledge these degrees and/or certifications are supposedly bringing to the table?
3. Who are the real winners? Could it be that the various professional bodies and degree-awarding institutions are the real winners, raking in millions of hard currency on an annual basis?

Your thoughts and responses are much appreciated.