Are you sure the wages don't rise in high demand, low supply areas? We all just read the 7 figure salaries for people in AI stolen from one big company to another, what is that?
Yes, companies are picky, but it is slowly changing. They cannot afford to be picky anymore, but change takes time.
In my part of Europe doctors are paid extremely well. Construction workers also earn quite well given the lack of qualification required, a highway worker earns more than a junior developer and even more than many mid-level developers. The raise in these 2 sectors are definitely above the IT sector for the past 10 years.
Yes, companies are picky, but it is slowly changing. They cannot afford to be picky anymore, but change takes time.