It is mostly true right now. Majors are starting to screen applications using a computer-generated point system...the more points the better, and LORs on file add more points. Since they aren't hiring that many, the folks with the whole package, including LORs, are getting called but they aren't getting down into the "pack".

If you are a stellar applicant, perhaps with TPS on top of all the usual stuff, you might have enough points to push you over the top without LORs. But for the rest of us, best be calling up your bros.

Assuming things open up a bit a year or two down the road, interviews should be available to the "pack".