Hiring is significantly down but not completely frozen. It really depends what team you are talking about!

Just by the numbers it is probably harder to get an offer- but if you can get an interview that would certainly be good practice. I thought I was prepared but I totally bombed my first big tech interview! I was able to learn and turn it around and got an offer the second time around.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. I thought maybe current recruiters from big tech can provide some information about their current hiring activities

Not sure about others, but Google specifically said they're hiring for key strategic growth areas. I'm having a phone call with a recruiter next week, and can provide an update then.