I can code in C++, have been coding in C++ since it was first released, and C before that, on almost ever conceivable platform and processor. I've done some seriously hard-core systems programming, hard real-time work, deep embedded kernel level projects, and stupendously fast algorithms. But the thing is, I can get paid 2x to 3x as much to write Python or Typescript, and I'm not in some toxic fintech/cryptobro environment. Every employer that has hired me for my C++ has been "not chill" and just outright toxic at times, and the pay is crap. Why put myself through that?
Footnote: I've heard the same nonsense about not enough COBOL programmers (I've reluctantly done quite a bit of COBOL over the years) with companies desperate to hire and will pay $$$ for the privilege of retaining them, but when I talk to these desperate companies willing to pay top rates for a decent COBOL developer, I find out they are offering less than I was making 20 years ago and choke when I say "to get me to move, you'd need to pay at least 10% more than what I currently make."
Footnote: I've heard the same nonsense about not enough COBOL programmers (I've reluctantly done quite a bit of COBOL over the years) with companies desperate to hire and will pay $$$ for the privilege of retaining them, but when I talk to these desperate companies willing to pay top rates for a decent COBOL developer, I find out they are offering less than I was making 20 years ago and choke when I say "to get me to move, you'd need to pay at least 10% more than what I currently make."