They are fairly entrenched in their approach, which has been good for individual developers for sure, but has (in my opinion) produced little of actually legitimate societal value.
Probably not, because if you're looking for a Facebook sized opportunity, well, there just aren't many in real life. So, perhaps a good time to look outside of that community for jobs? It's not easy, and it will take time, but it will happen.
It doesn't really matter what the folks in Silicon Valley think.
The innovators left Silicon Valley during the pandemic and spread out throughout the country. Those remaining are desperately clinging to a world that doesn't exist anymore, and probably won't ever again.
I'm referring to people who can simultaneously exist in the present while envisioning the future. They can see a clear pathway to transition from the current state to the desired future state. Furthermore, these individuals possess all the necessary talent, skill, and expertise to make that envisioned future a reality.
The only thing you'll learn at a big tech company today is how to navigate corporate politics and finding ever-more creative ways to avoid paper work and meetings the 10 layers of management above you require to move an icon 1 pixel. Now, people will try to justify that it's because of the scale of big tech, but that doesn't really change the day to day experience. It's really not any different than making washing machine software for GE. The pay and benefits might be better at big tech, but you're not going to be doing anything impressive.
If you go on teamblind.com you'll see Google employees are primarily interested in an innovation they call "rest and vest." I believe it's this innovation that allows their generative AI products to create racially diverse images of National Socialists.
The people that made Google a success have been gone for a long time. Some retired, but most scattered across the country. Many are discovering how different SV is compared to small town USA. These Xooglers are first learning of long standing problems outside of the tech bubble, and they have the creativity and skills to solve those problems. There are many industries that have been is dire need for software excellence, and it's finally happening.
This is good for everyone with the possible exception of the morally bankrupt tech elite in Silicon Valley.
Any reasonable person would agree, but would the people in Silicon Valley agree.