I think part of this is exactly why I can apply to U.S jobs. Now that arguably everyone in the world can apply to every job in the world, the situation seems untenable unless you have a spotless and thorough record.
Just a note, in the US, my understanding is most companies are not planning on offshoring most jobs overseas even though they are remote jobs basically in the short term. We all do expect more of that to happen in the future though.
My company is US has a deal with the city its in, the state its in as well. Even though we are all remote now (except for the hardware people), all of the employees are expected to live in a commutable distance to the office so post covid going back to work will be a thing.
I think companies get tax breaks and have agreements with municipalities to bring jobs to an area.
Ive interviewed for some basic software engineer roles in the US NY region with Node in the last 2 years that basically just wanted basic JS experience to work there without any production Node experience. No 8 hour tests, just general discussions, and build a CRUD app that handles X type of object.
Programs like Outco(costs money) exist to help software engineers improve their interviewing skills/try get more money in their next job, even if they are experts with great experience they take these classes because interviewing can be hard for some devs.
If i were you i would spend a day or two researching the current state of interviewing for JS/react roles. Its a big market, lots of devs talking about succeeding in it online.
Start talking to currently employed software engineers for specific advice on your current issues. Fish for referrels, this is the biggest way companies hire nowadays in US in my opinion.