I'm more inclined to believe that the pay is just not attractive. Or, maybe there's some kind of tax legislation trap that prevents employers from offering attractive salaries, and/or drives people with high digital skills away to other markets.
Nor is it particularly well respected as a skilled discipline, developers are treated just like any other office worker and tend to be paid similarly. The programmers you find in most SMEs are probably not underpaid for their skill level and productivity though, they tend to be plodders, being paid to plod. It's a vicious cycle of low pay, low expectations and low productivity.
If you want to be part of something that moves fast and pays well, you try to get into those places, or leave for another country (mostly the US, the pay in most EU countries is worse AFAICT).
There used to be the option to contract/consult on an independent basis, but the tax authorities are doing their best to entirely kill that business model right now.