I have some friends making ~600, although a lot of that was getting lucky with RSUs, so I'm not sure they can keep it up in the long run

Either way, the ceiling is a lot higher than 150

You could extend the curve and plateau higher, but then, that money is probably going to cause problems elsewhere for the younger generations. Meanwhile, the younger generations are seeking income increases so they can get the basics out of the way and start working towards their goals. They are already at the point where, despite studying for a long time and taking longer to enter the market, they are starting lower and have to delay their goals way more than the generations before them.

I don't really see a solution here. You can make young people work earlier, but that'll flood the job market even more. Boosting young people will make the curve flatter, which exacerbates the problem. You could extend the curve otherwise, but that means your yearly growth at the start will be smaller (which hurts everyone along the curve). The only solution I see here is to take a larger portion of the profits, and stakeholders are fighting tooth and nail to prevent that.

Where have there have the layoffs started? What evidence do you have that we are "heading back into 'lucky to have a job' territory"?

If you can get the income as long term capital gains, you get to keep a lot more.

At the same time, money is money, and stock isn’t money.