I think people are over-interpreting narrative.
let's go back to covid: an unexpected input, truly significant, but it was not the end of times. People and business however did see it as nearly biblical wipeout and responded by hoarding. [people hoarded toilet paper (!)] and companies hoarded employees, especially "engineers", which skewed compensation to unsustainable levels.
Now, here comes AI, and companies need to trim back significantly. Business communicates that AI can "do the job", but the job is really to undo the previous excesses. All a big see-saw that will swing back, just like always.
My take fwiw
