At least in Germany that was a rational assumption for a large part of the 90s where for a few years they tried offshoring all IT related jobs, only to onshore them again later when it didn't work.
From my PoV the offshoring never stopped seeing how many German companies moved SW dev to Eastern Europe. Most automotive SW seems to be developed in Eastern Europe nowadays. Only recently it seems to have slowed down, as the wages there approached the ones in Germany thanks to US companies entering the market with even batter wages, so there's no cost savings to be made anymore.
Also, DW was reporting of German companies moving SW dev to Africa now that Eastern Europe was all fished out of cheap workforce.[1] So the offshoring never stopped it seems, and knowing how stingy German companies are with paying ICs and increasing their salaries, it doesn't surprise me. They'll do anything not to increase wages.
[1] https://www.dw.com/en/germany-taps-into-africas-it-sector-to...
And only very basic tasks are sent abroad, since cultural differences have made it impossible to trust any output.
Eastern Europe has the advantage of a more closely related culture than India which was the prime offshoring target in the 90s, but as you say the salary differential isn't as large, meaning a lot of companies will think twice about the overhead.
That cuts both ways, with German culture (in IT/tech) being off-putting to many foreign talent as well, who tend to prefer anglophone countries or anglophone companies operating in Germany, and strictly avoid traditional German companies, for good reasons.
He was even more pissed, but also proud, when I start earning more than him my first year working.
I lived those years (in Europe) as a teenager and I definitely remind people, including elders, teachers, etc, encouraging me to learn programming and computers. At worst there were a ton of them considering the career a dead end (big mistake), but nobody ever considered that dangerous. But I might have just got lucky with whom I met.