[Godel_unicode]

I always find this an interesting argument; while company foo has more power than a random job seeker, they certainly don't have more power than all the other companies seeking that employee. In order for companies to wield their supposed salary-depressing power there would have to be massive collusion. For an example of how (in)effective that is, look how much salaries increased while Apple Google et al were colluding.

I think this is more simple: units of production are less obviously attributable to FTE count or difference in skill in software than in other fields. Therefore, management is less sure how much developer they actually need to purchase.

[WalterSear]

Companies are certainly beholden to the market: one of the ways the power asymmetry is unfolding is in their successful manipulation of H1 visa legislation.

None of this is all-or-nothing. Companies use their power over the individual applicants as a response to the vagaries of the market. However, the basic logic divide and conquer ing means that they always have more power than individuals selling their services to them.

[alexanderstears]

Even the H1 program pits corporate interests against each other. The biggest companies have to enter the same lottery as WIPRO Jr. DBAs.

[tristor]

There has been exactly this type of collusion in the past and I would argue it's still ongoing, just better covered up. http://fortune.com/2015/09/03/koh-anti-poach-order/