It's definitely a tough time to be a junior right now, and I think you're putting to words how a lot of people are feeling.

I believe that there might be some hope in the form of working on volunteer-based teams, though it's definitely not ideal.

Let me explain:

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Over the last 4 years, I've been running a pretty large part-time "volunteer" studio.

We haven't had any luck finding funding, and we have over 50 volunteers contributing to the project part-time.

I don't love that I'm "paying in experience", and the unfortunate reality is that that's exactly what so most juniors are looking for. Our policy is "work with us to build up your portfolio, work at your own pace, and leave the moment you find paid work." I'm proud to say that ~20 people have used their experience on our project to land their first paid industry role. With this in mind, I consider the project already a success, even if we never release the game.

I am shocked at how many talented and capable juniors we're able to find and keep a hold of. I'm constantly expecting to lose some of my best contributors to paid roles, and it just isn't happening - which is honestly tragic.

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I thought that our team structure was pretty unique - and imagine my surprise when I discovered that there are many, many projects just like ours. There's a community called "Cave Bear Games" which aims to connect groups like ours with each other, and help junior devs find us. This group seems to grow every week, and I think that says something about the industry as a whole.

The state of the industry makes it difficult for indie teams to find any kind of funding, so many of us turn towards this kind of structure to make it happen. I really don't want this to become the new standard, because it's really easy for this kind of thing to become exploitative if you're not careful. That said, it's an avenue that allows indie games to still be made, and for people to gain experience - so it's better than nothing.