Very true. In 1967 they were almost pulling people off the street to teach them programming. I was a Linotype operator for 13 years and saw the handwriting on the wall when offset came in. I wondered what all this fuss about computer programming was and checked out a trade school - guys running around wearing a white shirt and tie plus lots of good-looking chicks sold me.
I figured I had a two-years' lead time to get in solid before the colleges started cranking out programmers by the boatload, just as they had done with engineers during Eisenhower's term. Never happened. The business just kept growing and growing and didn't really deteriorate, IMO, until they started bringing in H1Bs.
I figured I'd keep working until I started drooling on the keyboard (I was STILL getting offers of a permanent position at age 63) but, just as with the hot metal print trade, I could see the end of an era coming and bailed at 65. Good memories though as I was blessed with doing work that I thoroughly enjoyed and, so help me, often looked forward to going to work the next day.
Yeah the software business is quite as fun as in the old days. But there’s still some good companies. And really we still get treated like royalty compared to most jobs (free sodas and snacks still rule the industry, and “try not to be naked” is still the general dress code). Glad I’m married to somebody with a real job, when I start complaining about stuff like our new insurance no longer having the employee fully paid by the employer she gives me that “welcome to the real world” look.