DS market is kind of insane right now

So here's the story: another team in my company opened an associate-level DS role last week, we got 300+ applications, and somehow there were 30+ senior-level guys applying for it. Not fake senior either. Like actually senior all with 10+ yoe. One of them even was a master from Harvard.

I knew the market was bad, but seeing that kind of applicant piling up for an associate level role was still kind of unbelievable.

Feels like a lot of experienced people are applying down-level after being laid off now just to stay employed. Which is fair enough, but also DAMN.

Curious that are other people & teams seeing the same thing, or is this just a weird sample on our side?