I think for some people building software became about making the most amount of money they can possibly make, it became about grinding leetcode to get that sweet package at FAANG.

Startups became about flipping crud apps that try to get users addicted to them.

There are still cool and honest jobs out there! Work in a space you care about and have fun, filter out anything with VC money or FAANG. Usually older companies can be more rewarding from a career perspective, you also get to work in bigger projects with more responsibilities as well as you aren’t competing against 50k’s of software engineers to climb the ladder.