[ninefoxgambit]

The definition of "front-end" is still quite broad. There is still a large number of people doing classic front-end work which is more like HTML/CSS/little bit of JS or Jquery. This work never goes away because it's still so labour intensive to style and theme sites. But this work is certainly seen as "less difficult" and pays less.

Then you have the more modern version of the front end dev who can actually program, and writes mostly Javascript and works with API's. They have probably specialised in a framework like React and they have built some SPAS. This type of front-end work I do not consider to be less difficult and I would say often commands the same salary as backend.