[pdimitar]

> You have so many candidates in the pipeline that missing one good person is a cost that's acceptable for having to spend 30 minutes with someone that probably can't actually program.

VERY debatable. I've chatted with dozens of HR and CTO people during the last 4 months of interviewing and looking for a job. They all complain "there are no good candidates". Without exception. (And I know you addressed that one paragraph below this quote.)

You're not wrong that selecting good candidates is extremely hard. I know it is. But the companies have to find a way to do better. I know many examples of world-class programmers being passed on by employers who, if they actually paid attention, would kill for them (and often times they contacted them anywhere from 6 to 18 months later, only to be predictably laughed out by the now-happily-employed person).