I mean, I'm not these companies and I don't know the exact formula, but you'd be looking at things like the attrition rate, the cost of hiring, the cost of rais

I mean, I'm not these companies and I don't know the exact formula, but you'd be looking at things like the attrition rate, the cost of hiring, the cost of raises but also the value of wages across the whole market. There's some low-key collusion going on for sure (not necessarily outright collusion although some firms have been caught doing that too, but multiple firms all employing the same strategy keeps wages low for everyone). Now obviously developers do have enough leverage that they earn more than many professions, but it's obvious that many are under-valued. If it truly were more expensive to hire than to give raises, more firms would be giving raises.