I took your point to be "hirers would rather that job seekers contact them directly than look through resumes", but then your example is one where no one contacted you and you hired without looking through many resumes anyway. That doesn't really prove your point, and makes it sound like advice for people who don't much care who they hire.

Anyway, if people start to follow the advice of reaching out directly, that channel will become exactly as clogged as the job postings.

> I just waded through the first 20 till I found someone who would work and hired him.

You get lucky, sometimes. But I also watch that - that mostly leads to "hire someone, can them within 3 months, recycle that job ad". I've seen companies who have taken the same position on and off their Careers page 3+ times a year (for the same req, to be clear, not company growth).