Used to be rare.
This happened to plenty of people I knew personally during the covid layoffs and I see no reason it won't happen again (in fact we're discussing a pretty well known company doing it right now in these very comments).
> Don't compromise your reputation
Your reputation with who? I've never considered working for a previous employer in my entire career and never, ever known hiring managers at one company to have influence over another.
I used to feel very safe when leaving a role but it's unfortunately just not the way things are these days. Same goes for "ghosting". I used to think it was repulsive for candidates to ghost a potential employer during an interview, however I've been on the receiving end of companies ghosting a shocking number of times.
I wish we lived in the world you are describing, but we don't.
If you’re in an area with few employers, don’t want to move, _and_ don’t want to work, then maybe don’t give notice, otherwise you’re just leaving value on the table for people who only like you when you leave value on the table
No, don't do this in a professional developer job.
These rescinded offer stories are rare. That's why they make headlines. It's a newsworthy event, not a common occurrence.
Don't compromise your reputation and burn bridges on the way out the door just to compensate for the remote possibility of being subject to an outlier event like this.
Leaving on a good note and maintaining positive references is far more valuable than hedging against perceived downside risk of having an offer rescinded.