It is simple. Accept that there won't be any hire in near future and recognize that you have a very good job security. Understaffed teams have incentive to reta

It is simple. Accept that there won't be any hire in near future and recognize that you have a very good job security. Understaffed teams have incentive to retain talents. use this fact as leverage to negotiate a higher increment! and use the "understaff" excuse to lower your work pressure. I can't imagine anything else which is both desirable and possible from such a situation. PS: I consider hiring someone into the team as undesirable as it will be bad for any candidate worth hiring.