I'm aware that the blog post and the discussion on HN focus on the situation in the USA.
Nevertheless, I'd like to add that the situation is quite different in Germany and probably many other European countries.
As hinted at by 205guy in this discussion, a BS in CS at a German (or French) university focuses on providing each student with a basic understanding of all important topics in CS. It contains only very few non-CS courses.
In order to do an MS in CS, one usually has to have completed a BS in CS.
The MS allows students to deepen their knowledge in selected areas - research topics that the professors/assistants work on. Students also work on larger practical and scientific projects and have a lot of freedom to choose their own focus.
There is a consensus (at least in Germany) that a BS is not enough for most jobs, therefore a majority of students do an MS.
(Generally, universities also require PhD students to have completed a MS in this field.)
In my case, it was a "Master's" of Software Engineering that I got in France. I did my BS in the US where I learned all about algorithms, networking, databases, processors, bytecode, assembler, functional languages, and object-oriented languages. I considered it a good solid base in CS. Essentially, over 4 years, I had 2 years of general study (math, physics, chemistry, labs, literature, history, etc.) and 2 years in my CS major.
With that I got into a French school where the students had done 2 years of cramming for exams (mostly math, physics, and chemistry) and one year of intro CS, then I joined them for the last 2 years. I did repeat some processor and compilers work, but then took the software engineering option that focused on process, tools, UI, QA, along with a mandatory industry intership with final report (not as big as a research thesis, but still quite hefty).
To me it was a very practical and useful course of study, and I really think that masters programs can provide valuable non-research skills. There are many domains where I think that 1-2 years of additional study on top of 2 years of BS coursework can be very valuable. I think these domains can and should be industry-focused fields: software engineering, imagery, maps, geo-location, big data, web-apps, testing, processor design, etc. These would be advanced courses where the students look at industry practices and the latest research and do (minor) original work in the field, either on their own or as an internship with a company solving real problems.
My interpretation of the OP and the various other threads in these comments is that:
1) CS is highly in demand and HR doesn't know how to evaluate skills other than to ask for degrees.
2) Some schools are responding to the need for degrees by offering MS in CS that are really a BS for people who already have a BS in another field.
3) These people are doing mostly intro CS, not the advanced topics or research that "real" MS programs are doing.
So I think it really is a problem with these schools and the accreditation of their MS degrees in CS. I was surprised to read other responses above that most colleges do not allow multiple BS degrees. This is some sort of artificial limitation that is skewing the meaning of the MS degree.
Similar in Czech Republic. Add to that the fact that Bachelors did not exist in the past (and thus people "just" have a Masters) and it is hard to not continue on to do a Masters degree.
