Not pursuing developer roles, but I'm 7 months deep looking for roles in an area where I am "objectively excellent with over 15 years experience and literally dozens of professional references who will vouch for me and my work". That's about 400 applications to roles (far more than I thought available) where I'm "obviously" at least worth considering. A grand total of 15 of those lead to any contact at all (even an email ping or a superficial recruiter chat). Only 3 actually progressed to serious interviews. 2 of those ghosted me (for real). 1 of them might make an offer next month. Exhausted all savings 3 months ago.
The issue my resume has is that it is being processed by morons who aren’t trying to do the right thing for their employer.
I know that for certain by the reactions to my resume from the handful of companies that actually reached out, and the reactions to my resume from the people who actually interviewed me, etc.
It's screwy out there, whatever the reasons.