[InkCanon]

I too am surprised by the number of ads these firms put out. Reddit, YouTube, even advent of code. I can't imagine in a world where even underpaid entry level roles at small startups get hundreds of applicants that these firms have a shortage of candidates.

What I think happens behind the scenes is similar to elite universities: there's a strong desire to maintain a high rejection rate. It's probably a KPI of the HR team to get a high number of applicants, so their HR team goes to the bottom of the ocean and the top of mountains to paste job ads. It is however not at all a sign that they need people.