Employees struggle to negotiate competitive salaries when hiring freezes limit job mobility

Workers in key industries face a paradox: employers are hiring less, making job switching risky, yet those same employers are raising pay for existing talent to prevent departures. Employees lack leverage to demand raises without threatening to leave, and current salary negotiation tools don't account for industry-specific talent shortage dynamics. Workers can't easily prove their market value when the job market is contracting but compensation is rising.