[nerfhammer]

> Still, there is nothing that should make Apple pay more because they can

No, but to hear people complain about how it's impossible to hire anyone...

while inflation- and cost-of-living-adjusted salaries actually have not increased at all... what's going on here?

[alkonaut]

"Hard to find developers" just means "Hard to find people who will do X when we pay Y". As for cost of living, if NYC/SF tech companies offer competitive salaries for those areas (like $150k) that must be a fortune for people working remotely from almost anywhere else. So assuming that remote work is quite normal, and the companies accept paying SF salaries to remote workers from everywhere, I can't see how they can fail to find talent.

[nerfhammer]

Personally I think there's a cultural aversion to competing on compensation.