There are also those of us who bill out engineering talent hourly who are more than happy to help drive up salaries across the board as it increases the hourly

There are also those of us who bill out engineering talent hourly who are more than happy to help drive up salaries across the board as it increases the hourly rates my clients will pay. I can absorb the salary increase simply by raising the price, and my clients will pay it because their HR couldn’t hire engineering talent even when it was available.