I wonder why ultra-elite companies like Google don't swap to a model where they reach out to people they want to hire, rather than accepting random applications?
This is exactly what happens. Most experienced engineers I know with a good resume get emails almost weekly from Google and Amazon in particular.
After the law suit my salary was increased 10% at Google, although I didn’t even work in US :)
If you’re at the level of working for Google you’re presumably already at the absolute top of your field internationally and will know people at Google you can reach out to personally.