> This guy seems good, but he faces a worse landscape for finding new employment than your fictional Joe Everyman.
Maybe this is true, I don't actually know. But I'm quite skeptical that someone who worked at Google for a long time, and has work with their name on it they can point to, who can work remotely, will have a harder time finding gainful employment than a physical laborer.
I'm not trying to pile on the "screw this guy for whining" train, but I think it is important to recognize the privilege of working in tech.
I mean, actually, we're in this world now (for now, esp in the US) where if you work in trades and lose your job you could turn around and get another job pretty easily. It might suck just as much as your previous job, and the pay won't be anywhere close to a SWE salary, but there's just so much work...
But if you're a tech worker, it's really not a gravy train anymore. The number of open positions has dropped, the compensation ranges perhaps as well, and the interview process is more grueling and involved.
People who worked as salaried employees at BigCorps for years making big $$ definitely should have more savings, but they're still on the whole just the same as any other worker: they pay taxes, they don't own enough capital to make them independent of the market, and they are likely some number of months/years away from not being able to pay mortgage/rent/bills/groceries. Just like any other worker.
There are no "jobs" even in tech that give any kind of permanent escape from the need to beg for employment to make ends meet.