Why does your employer pay you at all? To get you to work for them. So how much do they pay you to work for them? As little as it takes to convince you to work

Why does your employer pay you at all? To get you to work for them. So how much do they pay you to work for them? As little as it takes to convince you to work for them and not someone else. So how much does it take you to convince you to work for them? Just a little more than anyone else will pay you. So your pay depends on how much anyone else will pay you. Where does inflation enter that logic? You can say 'my costs have gone up by inflation I want to be paid that much more' but can you see how your costs don't figure into what they pay you? If you said 'this company will pay me more' than that works. But just 'inflation' doesn't.