Some hyperbole, but the general idea that employees are on the bench for a very long time is true. I spent the first year of my career at a large services company and saw a number of friends go through this. It may seem surprising that people are paid when they don't have anything to do, but that's part of the business model. The companies want to be able to say, "we have 300 people ready to start now if you sign the contract". If I'm not mistaken, 20-25% of the workforce can be on the bench at any given time.

The sad part is that new college grads are thrilled that they get paid without having to do anything, which is dumb. Some of the most productive time of their lives is lost forever.