I have been a hiring manager in that market since 1999 and know from direct experience that there has never been a shortage during the period. I can hire as many as I want, provided my bosses are willing to pay the market rate. The federal government stopped imposing maximum wage controls decades ago. The state government blocks most non-compete employment contracts. There is a huge supply of potential engineering employees currently living in other parts of the country or working in non-engineering fields who would take SF area engineering jobs at the right price. I have met plenty of locals who used to work as engineers and are now homemakers, lawyers, schoolteachers, writers, EMTs, scuba instructors, etc.
This is a real economy that exists right now and it looks pretty close to free.