It's more complicated. Companies have no access to senior software engineers, so companies can't handle complex/large projects, so management doesn't get the experience to derive more value from the engineering work, so the company can't afford senior software engineers (a feedback loop). In this environment junior engineers become senior only by the length of tenure, not by the experience of handling more complexity.
I immigrated to Germany from Israel (and to Israel from Ukraine), so my University friends are all over the world, but not in Germany.
Is it because of remote work? What about seeing your University friends (or did you take not a SE or CS related field)?