> A lot of them were making low 6 figures 10-15 years ago, and now many of them have no hope of making that much in their careers again because companies have vastly reduced the number of those roles.

I moved to the Seattle area during the dotcom boom.

Within 18 months I was unemployed.

There was DEFINITELY a feeling, like the whole “internet” thing might have been a bubble. I helped a friend move to Pleasanton CA and there were so many empty office buildings, it looked like a zombie movie.

But it all came back, and more.

I'm not at all saying that tech is somehow "dead". What I am saying is that many of the non-engineering roles that were popular in tech over the past 15-20 years are either going away or will continue with vastly reduced numbers of people. If you're someone who did agile training for the past 15 years and are now in your 40s and were laid off, I sincerely doubt you'll be able to get a job as an agile coach before the end of your career that pays as much as in the 2015-2020ish timespan.

The number of tech employees worldwide in 2026 is probably 2x or more compared to 2001. Maybe even 3x. Things are not the same.