Tech became too profitable to be left to "those nerds" so now you have very bloated orgs. Though a freelancer should be able to sidestep the grifters unless you're selling yourself as an employee for some reason.
Yeah, my first year as a freelancer was quite sweet actually. Then came the pandemic and me and my spouse got ourselves a vacation house as we couldn't travel any more. While this was a great relief for our mental health during the pandemic, it meant a much higher mortgage so I needed the more stable income.