Curiously, I've seen a lot of pushback in recent years (post-2012) on the idea that you should use an ORM. Many recent apps are firmly in the "pick a database, use it to its fullest, and stick with it" camp, probably because
a.) a number of new databases have come out recently that don't fit nicely into the SQL query paradigm
b.) many of the early ORMs (Hibernate, ActiveRecord, etc.) had terrible performance and that unfortunately has tarnished the reputation of all ORMs.
and c.) people try to use an abstraction layer, and then they actually switch databases and find out that the abstraction layer hasn't actually saved them any work.
It remains a contentious topic. Most programmers I know who learned to program in the 2000s think that you're crazy if you don't use an ORM, and setting yourself up for a lot of pain. Most programmers I know who learned to program in the 2010s think that you're out of touch if you do, and missing out on many of the new features in their favorite database. Most programmers I know who learned to program in the 1980s look on with amusement, because they know that the tech industry is driven by fads and you're screwed no matter what you do, so just muddle your way through it as best you can.
Be aware of this as you craft your messaging to different groups: this is not an effective comparison for the post-Node, post-mobile-app developers I know.