The technology talent pool in America is just too small right now (even worse abroad)... and requires too many skills that aren't taught in school. On top of that, only the big firms can afford to apprentice as this article points out, but getting into them is difficult for most.

Short term these market dynamics appear to benefit the big firms, but long term it constrains the entire ecosystem. All the big firms need a huge ecosystem of competent little companies who handle integrations at a more local scale. I.e. Google needs small business people who know the webstack well so that Google can integrate its services with your business and sell you ads. So Google is incentivized to invest in community education because every one of those future hackers is a potential future customer.

If you want to differentiate in hiring, I'd say the main thing to offer people choosing between Google and you is leadership opportunities. Don't stick your techies in the basement -- offer then 1:1 time with top execs and owners so they can give the feedback they need to build better products.