Freelancing has died out for me and everyone else I used to freelance with (this was circa 2004-2008). Here are the reasons I've seen that played a role in the climate (and it's not this virtuous market force here, the people who hire/fire are cargo-culting each other and narrowing their potential and access to talent as well):

1. A great deal of the work has turned to agencies. The kind of people who liked freelance worked ended up seeking employment with them. The agencies finds juicy longer term projects that span 3 months to a year that can bill out a whole team.

2. The general attitude toward working with a dev without locking them in is now frowned upon. Startups want a person on site and full time. (Even if a lot of startups putter out in < 3 years, they still have the impression they're hiring for the "long haul").

3. Further saturation by upwork and other services. The kind of people offering gigs are miserly micromanagers who want very cheap labor from out of the country. The kind of people who count every penny and are not trying to attract talent with snacks and pool tables anyway (Despite them being often atrocious at nailing down specifications, often ends up getting lower quality work and building a lower quality product. You don't hear about there success stories).

4. Freelancing isn't seen as a thing a seasoned developer fits in, in the current economy. I know I see threads here on HN about consulting, but really, there's a sampling bias and a lot of wishful thinking.

What I write above isn't iron rules. Just part of a cultural shift in hiring I've witnessed. Maybe I've been hanging out in the wrong places. I see good remote work as a unicorn.