And the lack of new (non-AI) startups allows bloated incumbents to get by without innovating or offering new products. Quality destroying measures like offshoring and outsourcing are easier to pull off. As is allowing services and standards to slide.
Maybe we'll only know once interest rates come back down. Or once the AI-replacing-workers veil has been lifted.
I think this dynamic is an under appreciated source of the chart that shows the decoupling of the job market with the stock market [1]
[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/how-scary-is-the-scariest-ch...