I think it's a bit harsh and elitist to label this with "unfortunately"; for developers like the ones you mention, often their goal or aspiration is not to work

I think it's a bit harsh and elitist to label this with "unfortunately"; for developers like the ones you mention, often their goal or aspiration is not to work in a FAANG or silicon valley startup; they want to make a decent living as a developer in their city and this provides that career for them. Many of those companies aren't trying to be the next unicorn, they're just small dev teams trying to maintain a web site for their business.