I used to get jobs at $70 USD/hour and lately all jobs I apply to show me a warning that my rate is not competitive. It shows what a competitive rate would be and it's usually around 35 USD/hour or less.
I have applied to dozens of jobs where I was clearly overqualified and never got anything.
For the past month I started applying with a 42 USD/hour rate... still got selected for exactly zero jobs.
I even got contacted on Slack for a tech position and the offered rate was 23 USD/hour.
For every job you apply and isn't selected, they send an automated email about only developers that apply within 3 days are usually selected. My average apply time is 5 hours. It makes no sense.
It seems unless you are happy to race to the bottom, there is zero chance of getting a job on Toptal right now.
I don't even think this is related to laid off people impacting the job market. I doubt US developers laid from prestigious FAANG companies are applying under such meme rates.
