Your co-worker is probably just lazy/disengaged, not OE. The labour shortage just means businesses are taking anything and keeping anything.

A lot of you have probably never really encountered a true B or C player or been part of a B or C organization. Why? You got good grades, got into a good school, got into a professional track program, and got a good job out of university and a reputable company. Your employers could always be picky and could hire similar people who had what amounted to a lifelong record of achievement since the 5th grade.

And then the labour shortage happened. Some died. Some retired. Some went back to school. And for those of us in the digital world, we were always on the cusp of a staffing crisis anyway. Devs weren't exactly abundant in 2019 either.

That led to the Great Resignation. My J1 had a three-month funnel for employees to go through. Worked fine until we were losing a person a week and nobody was making it through the funnel as within two weeks, they had offers. So they reduced the number of interviews. They got rid of degree requirements. They stopped caring about bad references.

The new people are not that great. Our pace has slowed. We produce more bugs. Lots of them have no idea about how the fundamentals behind their code works. And it doesn't matter. We need more of them as the other option is no code.

These people have always existed. The unmotivated. The not terribly bright. Those who will happily slink away and jack off all day (admittedly me some days).

The difference is that in a world in dire need of people, companies are compromising everything to get bodies in the door. My J2 is looking at a new grad for a tech lead role, as nobody else has applied. Literally, a new grad with terrible grades (not that informative for a dev, but still) is the only option right now that J2 has for a tech lead for my team. Not one single other resume has been put in the pile. He might get the job, as there is no alternative.

At an old job, a guy got the job, showed up for three weeks, and then went AWOL for three more weeks. He still has a job, as it took 6 months to get even him. Casually took an unannounced vacation and he still has a job. Why? There is no alternative.

At the job I left before my latest J1, they are begging a guy they originally didn't want to re-hire to come back. Why? There is no alternative, as they still have not filled my seat.

A former colleague of mine has been fired from 2 of his last 6 jobs, and had all 6 jobs in the past 3 years. Still getting interviews. Still getting hired. Smart guy but awful co-worker. Why? There is no alternative.

Your co-workers aren't OE. It is that they have the freedom to not do a good job and still keep their jobs. Some are just terrible and have no idea how they ended up there. Others know they have the power and are using it.