FAANG pedigree is not really applicable to remote work though. These companies scaled impressive engineering orgs for building the modern internet, but they are also now megacorps with all the same process and communication overhead, just a different flavor from the previous generation. I have no doubt that companies that are dedicated to the remote work can build a successful culture, and covid and the upcoming recession/depression will gave them a huge leg up.

I suspect they may have been spoiled by their hotspot location's selection bias (higher end talent isn't always in the expensive area with high pay but they would be more tempted to it), tried to pay comparable peanuts on remote talent and got relative monkeys or both.

I would conjecture this is the result of the FAANG culture and its historical lack of support for widespread remote work. It seems like it's the sort of comment that telegraphs, "this is the way we've always done it, why change it?"

Unless they were there when they grew rapidly, a FAANG pedigree isn’t worth anything. It’s easy to ride the wave when the money printing machine is already set up.