[alttab]

Interestingly enough, recruiters get paid a % of the salary as a commission most of the time. This means they actually have an incentive to get you higher pay.

But they also can't keep bringing in people above a company's ask. It's a balance that has to be managed.

[csa]

The biggest gap for the recruiter is between no and yes. The tiny increase they get for themselves for negotiating hard on behalf of their placement rounds to zero in most cases. If it costs them a placement, the opportunity cost is huge.

[eropple]

This is also often referred to as the "realtor problem", for those who've run into that one.

[alttab]

Point taken. For engineers, I can see this being the case.