It also seems to me that companies are unwilling to raise prices because they are concerned about a recession and that demand is not robust for their product.

It also seems to me that companies are unwilling to raise prices because they are concerned about a recession and that demand is not robust for their product. Therefore they don't hire anyone since hiring has a long lead time and commitment. You end up in a situation where if supply is constrained but demand is strong enough and companies can, in the short run, raise prices but not have to employ more people which mitigates downside risk of adding additional cost structure and commitment of new employees. Not a great long run strategy though these are strange times.