This article must've been written in Spring 2022. Tech hiring is now like 2008 or post-dotcom.
The question is whether it will return to what it once was.
The big tech companies are monopolies, no longer afraid that they have to employ "all the engineers" to prevent competition. ZIRP isn't there to give rise to startups, or to give the tech companies unlimited leeway in development.
If interest rates drop or big tech is broken up, we might see a sharp rise in salaries. But now there's also more competition from overseas, both in terms of great talent and competition from large international players.
edit: the article was from 2016, and can confirm. I was making bank then and getting free at-work massages, boba, and towel service.
your whole problem is that you want to work at big tech. I still get a whole lot of perks (not massages :) ) working for small private companies making MUCH more money now than 2016… big tech bubble is killing a whole lot of careers these days, tech hiring now is actually pretty good, I get emails from companies and recruiters (even though I virtually do not exist publicly, e.g. linkedin etc…) weekly or less