My son mentioned this (works in IT) - friends who had solid job offers that were later rescinded.
My son was also recruited by several companies - said the interviews often last 5-6 hours and extend over two to three days - but the final job offers didn’t come through, when he was sure they would. One company said they’d get back to him with salary talk - but never did and didn’t respond when he reached out.
He also said his friends are being laid off from (well-paying) IT jobs. He isn’t happy with his current job but says there’s no way he’d quit in this job market.
My computer scientist daughter’s division got laid off at McKesson last summer. They wanted her to train the contractors from India they were going to use. She quit.
She took a job with the IT department in a local school district. She’s getting married and just bought a house with her fiance. The job at the school district is a little boring, but has lots of vacations and is stable.
My other data analyst daughter took a job with the GSA department of the federal government. It’s a 2 year program for new college graduates. She has a disability. I don’t know how she’d handle being in a high pressure job with layoffs.
At least my kids have jobs. I’m thankful. Hard times for lots of kids these days.
That sounds normal for software developer jobs. Full day of interviews with many whiteboard demonstrations that you know how to code or to see how well you solve logical or practical problems. The department might want you but they have to get funding approved and are completing with other departments...interviewing in software is a lot of work sometimes.
Should add that there is often anxiety that if they do not give a job offer or imply they are ready to give one that the developer might get hired by someone else.