I'm thinking optimistically about this as well, however, it's also true that someone who does well in a large corporate environment and who only knows large corporate operating procedures could struggle to adapt to the needs of startup in a timely manner. A Google or Meta staff-level engineer is a pretty useless skillset I'd say for a company with only a few people. Plus, those folks likely also have the personal networks and charisma to bounce to another high paying position elsewhere that needs those skills and is willing to continue paying for them.

Though, I am hearing of a few who struggled to find a comparable job with comparable benefits ended up starting something while they update their skills. I guess the question is, do they have the network and reach to turn it into a business?! Having serious downtime to decompress is a major catalyst for any of us drained of our creativity. So, at the very least, once VC money starts flowing again, and that VC money is not just obsessed with chasing LLM + X idea, then we might see this new wave of startups.