As logical, meritocratic and evidence-based as they claim to be, software developers get dug in to their emotion-based positions and wear blinders just like everyone else does.
Once someone thinks "I hate recruiters; they are useless" it becomes very difficult to change that mindset.
FWIW, I've been in industry for 30 years and all but my first job out of college came through recruiters. I tell the bad ones to quit bugging me and I work cooperatively with the good ones to find positions that I might actually like.
I’ve also been in the industry for 30 years, and not one of my jobs has come via a recruiter.
I have always either had — or gone out of my way to establish — the contacts necessary to line up a job at the next company I wanted to work for.
I hardly need a recruiter to find interesting companies where I can do interesting work, and the kinds of companies I want to work for avoid (or outright prohibit) using external recruiters.
Once someone thinks "I hate recruiters; they are useless" it becomes very difficult to change that mindset.
FWIW, I've been in industry for 30 years and all but my first job out of college came through recruiters. I tell the bad ones to quit bugging me and I work cooperatively with the good ones to find positions that I might actually like.