Salary negotiation is dependent on supply and demand. If there's a high demand for your niche skill, and few people have that skill, then you can negotiate - yo

Salary negotiation is dependent on supply and demand. If there's a high demand for your niche skill, and few people have that skill, then you can negotiate - you're a price maker. Otherwise, if the demand is low and the supply is high then you don't have much room to negotiate - you're a price taker. The problem is overgeneralization. Even in a "bad" job market there are always jobs where the demand is high and the supply is low. Those people are in good shape.