What about the talent pool: Laravel vs Node.js developers?

Both have large talent pools. JavaScript and Node.js developers are abundant because JavaScript is the most widely known language, but quality variance is high and backend specific Node.js experience is rarer than general JavaScript familiarity. Laravel developers are abundant in the PHP ecosystem and the framework's conventions mean Laravel developers tend to write more consistent code across teams. For a JavaScript shop already running React or Vue frontends, Node.js lets the team share a language across the stack. For a team without a strong JavaScript backend preference, Laravel's conventions and ecosystem usually deliver more predictable delivery.