I've noticed this exactly. At my original company I was performing Senior-level work (like, literally according to the staff level formalism from HR). But I wa

I've noticed this exactly. At my original company I was performing Senior-level work (like, literally according to the staff level formalism from HR). But I was told by my manager that to be classified as a Senior-level staff, you have to have been performing Senior-staff level work for at least a year. Therefore being promoted within the organization is a long process. Moreover, with the usual 1-3% raise, you're still in the (low-end) of the pay band for Senior staff, so from management's point of view there's no real problem. .. and then of course, if you're hired in, you just have a few phone calls, couple of interviews, discussion with the hiring manager and you're at a pay-level and job-level far ahead of existing employees even with identical experience.