Why do people even join WITCH compines

It may look like herd mentality, but they're basically folks trying to make their ends meet while still having a respectful job after an engineering degree. We need to look beyond all the rosy product companies and startups. There's a larger world out there struggling everyday despite having engineering degrees and ending up being part of the gig economy! That being said, the ones from these service companies too go on to make big later. It's just an entry point for them into tech and they eventually end up figuring out what they want. Many use these jobs to just prepare for their higher studies as well.

A lot of the “so many startups out there” have much worse pay, stability, wlb and culture than WITCH

It all starts with privilege. Not everyone has the same privilege of going into nice schools, and colleges. Develop their technical as well as soft skills. And most of the time they do not even have the Idea that such a thing exists. Most of the advice that they get is coming from people working in these WITCH companies. People who have the growth mindset, and are really hungry for success often push themselves out of this shithole. Peoples who are not, get comfortable with whatever they have and spend their career working for the said companies.

What's WITCH companies? Never heard before.

It is because they couldn't crack good companies interview. Most of witch companies don't even ask basic coding questions.