Unfortunately, many employees won't leave a job, even when career advancement is shut off, or pay rates don't match what a competitor would offer. Changing jobs

Unfortunately, many employees won't leave a job, even when career advancement is shut off, or pay rates don't match what a competitor would offer. Changing jobs is risky; you're trading a known for an unknown. In the last year as RTO has started to replace WFH, I've begun to consider whether it's worth looking for a new position. My minimum calculus is that is has to at least pay me as much as I make now, be remote, provide me with the amount of autonomy I currently have, and have workers and managers I enjoy working with. Remote isn't hard to satisfy now, at least for the near-term future. Pay, I can probably get a 10-15% raise. Coworkers and managers I like? Who knows. Autonomy? Who knows. Both of those are a roll of the dice, no matter how carefully you investigate prior to taking a position. So for a 10% raise? That's a pretty big risk. Now if your current compensation sucks, or you hate your boss, sure. But I think that most people are risk-averse (at least I am), and most will stick with a less than optimal situation.