

At my last job, there was no planning of work/projects. Like, there was a general plan of “We need feature X by Q3 and here’s what it should do”, but nothing about breaking work down into smaller units or prioritizing different tasks.
The manager would drop an email: “Hey, can you do …” and that was it. Now it’s another thing to throw down the waterfall. Big surprise, the same bastard would harp about how the project was underperforming!
Whether or not you’re wasting your time in college is only something you can answer. However, there definitely are jobs out there for junior software devs right now. If economic outlooks improve, I’d expect demand for juniors to rise also.
Anecdote: I saw stats shared on social media by a CS professor at my former college. Enrollment for their classes is way down this year, when “back in my day” they were packed. Make of it what you will, but it’s possible young people might no longer be seeing software development as an easy career to get into. That could make it a more attractive prospect for someone who’s in it for more than just money.