I hate how many postings now require active Secret/Top Secret clearance

Since January I’ve seen the amount of postings, particularly entry level ones, that require active clearance SKYROCKET. You can only get these clearances via a company sponsor, so it’s really frustrating being early in my career and completely road blocked.

I hardly even check Indeed anymore because 80% of the software engineering roles on each page require active clearance. Even when I filter for this, many jobs have the requirement embedded in a way that isn’t caught by the filter.

One company in particular makes me so bummed. Between my software developing skills and years of GIS experience, not only am I perfectly qualified for several jobs at their company, but I’d be super excited to work there because they seem to do really cool and ethical research using tech stacks I enjoy and am good at. They’re not only in my city, but their office is less than 10 minutes from my apartment. However, every SINGLE opening, even the junior ones, requires active top secret clearance. I tried applying to 2 but both rejected me within 24 hours.

(Yes, I’ve tried messaging engineers there on LinkedIn with no luck)

Edit: I'm not an idiot, I understand the reason for requiring clearances. I've had two DoE clearances in the past (it's a different kind, so even if they were active, they don't help). I'm talking about how annoying it is that clearly these companies just don't wait to spend the time or money bringing on (or even considering) otherwise qualified applicants, and specifically how frustrating it is that SO many junior/entry level jobs now require active clearance. Hell, I'd even pay to get myself cleared, but I can't do that without a company.