You say: "Experience with a company is far more likely to indicate strength, knowledge and proficiency than it is to indicate weakness as you described it......the only exception is for gov't employees."
I agree that it is an utterly dismal situation in re proficiency with government employees. It is less bleak in private companies. Yet in provate companies it is still as I say, and easy fiat money, easy slave-rate off-shore labor has made *it* so pervasive. It being the inversion of proficiency to longevity.
I have a fierce pride in what I do -- I work to get things done, and when done and done right I am no longer needed. That means I need a steady and vibrant mix of new projects to be done. That US cornucopia of yesteryear is gone.
To India for software projects, to China for manufacturing. To speak in gross terms.
Working on your own as a contractor IS difficult work. The main problem being that you have to prove/sell yourself with every client - and it becomes more sales and marketing than technical/engineering.
Large organizations DO accumulate dead wood, I agree. However, there is also great value in having long-term employees in many cases.
That said, there is little incentive to keep employees. In many organizations, for many reasons, not the least of which is regulation, bureaucracy and liability - being an employee has little more security than being a private contractor.
As overhead increases on each employee forces companies to cut perks and benefits, employees will come to realize that they really ARE contractors for all intents and purposes - and some will start behaving that way and do as you have done and become 'hired guns'.
You cannot do anything about software development in India, or manufacturing in China. It's not going to stop, so if you find yourself competing in those arenas, I understand why you have the opinions you do, but directing your angst at all people who have longstanding jobs with big companies is hardly productive.
evolution and innovation is what has always driven this economy. If you have a better idea that will put big companies out of business, and all those long tenured employees, I'm all for it and wish you well.
Until then, you should think of those guys in big companies as 'customers'.