I have been looking now for a year. Just got rejected for what would be a demotion (level 3 vs level 2 of this job family). I meet and exceed expectations and yet some company thinks I can't do the job. The last time I looked for a job before all this, I applied to 5 jobs, 5 interviews, 5 offers, I chose this place. Completely different market then. But forget about me for a moment.
I also know of an outstanding employee in a certain role in the bank who everyone (who knows what they're doing) knows who this engineer is. This person really knows their s**t. Expert, strong leader. This person has been searching for a long time and can't get any traction. If they can't, then something is wrong with the market.
Have you paid any attention to the news over the past 3 years? Maybe it's because there are 1000s of people laid off all searching for a job. Go to LinkedIn and click any corporate job and notice how they all (the ones I click) say "100+ people clicked apply". I hear of HR recruiters that sit near me in Lunken say they get 300-500 applicants for 1 good role. Something is wrong with the unemployment graphs when I hear news all the time about steady unemployment but then go see all the news of "company X laying off 8000 people".
THE JOB MARKET SU-KS!!! Some of us are trying but can't get any traction. Between layoffs and outsourcing to our overlords in India and Phillipenes, I think it's time people realize the American Dream is the frog in the boiling water and it's starting to boil. But hey the stock market is up, am I right? The investors are happy, hoarding more and more money.