

The Dominion War probably helped create some job opportunities. During the war, Starfleet was launching ships as quickly as they could. In addition, they have to promote to fill in gaps left injured or killed personnel. After the war, some people may leave Starfleet, others, like O’Brien, may take a reassignment that had been deferred, creating more opportunities to advance.
I’m hoping it’s because cruise control needs to go through a lot more strenuous QA than an only-used-while-parked feature like a game, but at this point, who knows.