...everyone is chasing the same few attributes in potential employees, one of which is already having expert skills at X thing they want to do.
I've never worked at a place that did this (unless "X thing they want to do" == "basic computer science"). I've always had difficulties hiring.
The fact of the matter is that most people you interview just aren't very good. It's hard to find the good ones. This is a complaint about search costs as much as price.
Correction: most people you interview don't demonstrate that they're good, for whatever reason. Is that because they aren't good? Or is there another reason? Since you won't be working with them, you'll probably never know.
I've never worked at a place that did this (unless "X thing they want to do" == "basic computer science"). I've always had difficulties hiring.
The fact of the matter is that most people you interview just aren't very good. It's hard to find the good ones. This is a complaint about search costs as much as price.