The reality is this board heavily trends towards SV and other tech hubs where salaries are outrageous and everyone is flush with choices for employers. Not everyone working in tech can walk into their local coffee shop and walk out with a job.

For the millions of tech workers who don't live in Seattle or Austin or the Bay Area, salaries are under $100k and your city only has a small handful of companies you can choose from. Good luck if they're not hiring at the exact moment you're looking for a new job.

Click the "Who's Hiring?" threads on this site. There are tons of 100% remote jobs with great benefits that pay 150k a year or more

150k in the Midwest won't let you save as much per year (in a combination of savings and home equity) as 300k in Silicon Valley, but it's pretty close

That said, I'd be for a strong code monkeys union even though it'd probably screw me personally. The system we have is great for people who know their own worth and can advocate for themselves, but most people just aren't like that