Yeah, the intimidation factor definitely is a concern for them. I know that was part of the reason they decided to move away from just offering one massive 640-page Core Rulebook; too many people were taking one look at that doorstopper and noping the fuck out, even though obviously not everything in that bible is going to be relevant to every player or campaign.
The thing about the Pathfinder Feat lists is that it also includes all the ways that classes gain more power as Class Feats, which is something D&D does have as part of its design but things like "you get Extra Attack at 5th level" are just part of the class description (since in D&D Feats are an optional rule). Like, if you take a look at, say, the Ranger class in the 5e CRB, and break down all the things that you get with that class and all the choices that you make into individual Class Feats as you'd have in PF2e, you'd have quite a long list, and that's far from the most complicated class in the game. So I think the sheer amount of Pathfinder feats is maybe sort of more intimidating than it actually is in practice. There are definitely a lot of them but I don't think it's a dizzying amount, especially since you're not choosing between all the feat lists at the same time.
Pathfinder is definitely more complex in the sense that it offers more choices (and, in my opinion, more meaningful choices) to the player in regards to their character's development, but I don't think it's harder to play, and I'd argue it's actually significantly easier to GM because it's so much more balanced. As a player playing 5e for the first time in a long time after spending a while playing/GMing Pathfinder, that game's whole move/action/reaction/bonus action/interaction thing makes me actually just want the simplicity of the three-action economy in Pathfinder. Whenever something is both conceptually simpler and also more flexible, that's just a better design.
I do think they should maybe slow their roll on new classes, though. It's hard to say what else they can do to keep Pathfinder as beginner-friendly as possible, considering how much a core part of the appeal of the game is having all those interesting choices (after all, the most popular variant rule by far in the Pathfinder community is a way to give your character even more Feats). I think the book is already laid out better than pretty much any other RPG rulebook (as a graphic design nerd, the lack of clear sectional hierarchy and minimal wayfinding features in the 5e PHB is grating to me and it makes it harder to parse than it should be), and they have what I think is the best introductory product on the market in the form of the Beginner's Box.
