> These restrictions don't tend to apply to hiring one via a contractor at $250-500k/year, though.
They very well may have to go that route, i.e. some greybeard independent contractor that can name their price. It's a very limited skillset and God knows this ain't the kind of work that gets the super talented motivated.
Dad started out as a COBOL programmer before he got distracted by management and decided being a PM was a better path. This was his explainer to me once:
To hire someone who can do the job reasonably quick and well is really expensive no matter how you slice it. Consider it a 'job well done' if you can persuade them to:
a) Un-retire
and
b) Come out of said retirement to do actual work in the trenches again - as opposed to management.
In the private sector, these people have probably made the equivalent of GS-15 Step 10 for years if not decades. Good luck trying to convince them to jump back in for what is essentially a pay cut.
They very well may have to go that route, i.e. some greybeard independent contractor that can name their price. It's a very limited skillset and God knows this ain't the kind of work that gets the super talented motivated.