From what I've heard and read over the last couple years, my impression of the software engineering job market is that it's pretty dismal right now even for those with experience. Somewhat of a perfect storm of candidate oversupply, economic uncertainty, and the looming threat of AI.

My question is whether the software engineering consulting market is equally depressed or that's still a healthy market? What are the day-to-day experiences of full time software engineering freelancers or consultants?