Yes, manipulation is the correct term. Employers were livid at how high IT salaries were rising (as they would with something that required unprecedented skills) and reached out to the government to help suppress them. It was strange to sit in presentations by C-suite executives who really wanted something for nothing. They expected genius IT staff at admin wages.
The worst were the ones who believed because that competitors had something, our company could also, but they refused to treat IT infrastructure and staff the way the competition did. It was like dealing with a cargo cult.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
I know quite a few individuals who walked away completely and I witness the technical regression daily. The IT folks they're bringing in fail at the basics that were learned more than two decades ago.
Because IT did not (and still hasn't) made the case that it deserves a voice in the C-suite. It is seen as a service, like electrical work or drywall or landscaping - the company needs it but senior execs don't see any reason to overpay in a market flooded with alternative providers.
The only group of workers that actually needed a union are IT/STEM workers and we never got one.