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Should note: there is quite a schism in 'market value' - it's a hard one to nail down. It's a range and it depends on a lot of factors.

There are people who just want a decent job with decent pay and a decent place to work. They will do consistently decent work for stability, neat stuff to work on. They are not heavy negotiators, and maybe don't realize they could make '40% more elsewhere' - or frankly are not willing to move their wife/husband and 3 kids.

Real 'market value' is what you are being offered, or rather, what people are accepting. So if people are accepting those supposedly low-ball numbers, well, that is 'market value'.




If the positions are being filled and the offers accepted then why would anyone be complaining about a "talent shortage"?


Because companies will always want better talent at a better price - in that context, there will always be a 'shortage'.

Markets for labour are obviously clearing - we're seeing tons of hiring (and laying off) - so people are getting hired.

Many companies are also looking for specialized talent, for specific jobs, which are actually hard to fill. In some areas there is definitely a 'shortage' for opportunity cost.

One could argue 'they could just pay more' - but it's not like industry will boost wages for some job by 30% in the hopes that more people will start to study and train for that subject! It's a short-run/long-run problem.

For broader industry trends, this happens: software is a 'good paying job' in many places, ergo, more devs. But for specialization it's hard. And often it's difficult to clearly justify the ROI. This ambiguity is tantamount to just a lower real value due to the inherent risk.

The offers being made for most jobs are ballpark near 'market wages'. Companies have a lot more data than individuals.


Well yeah, companies will always want better employees that cost them less and employees will always want better jobs that pay them more. These desires are somewhat at odds with each other.

"Talent shortage" is the language employers use to imply that rather than this just being an eternal truth and their current situation being the current market equilibrium, there is some kind of societal problem that society should help them solve (at society's expense of course).




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