IBM and other prominent companies spearheaded a wage suppression scheme in the 1970s, as engineers were becoming too solidly white collar.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-stem-crisis-is-a-myth

https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/25/149485/the-myth-of-the-skills-gap/

Also happens in academia, see discussions by guys like Eric Weinstein.

Congrats on the path, good to share and have people read who don't fit in. I appreciate you.