Earlier this year, my executive producer Henna mentioned something to me in a meeting.

Her friend, who works at one of the most profitable Fang companies, noted that it seemed as though people were being

let go with the express purpose of replacing them at a lower cost. Yeah my friend

and I were talking and she was saying that she doesn't feel like she could ever leave her role.

She gets paid $150,000 base salary, which is pretty high for the area and for what she does and so I said are you sure I mean maybe

you could find that elsewhere people are always hiring and she said no because I know

that they are trying to push people out and rehire at lower roles, which is something

that I've been seeing and hearing about, and I don't want that to happen to me.

And so I thought that was really interesting, and then I pinged to you, you Katie about it a couple days later to say,

I wonder if this is something bigger than what she's saying.

Then, in March, Penny sent me an article seeming to confirm this friend's one-off

suspicions. BBC had reported US salaries are falling. Employers say they're just resetting. And we hear about how strong the

US labor market is, how unemployment is at or near record lows. The economy is still adding more jobs than it's losing.

But there's something else going on too. On the heels of 9.3% wage growth

for advertised roles in early 2022, things have fallen precipitously in the

years since, according to the BBC.

That, by the way, seemed to be a trend in the 20 or so conversations we had for this episode.

Many people reported a hiring wave in 2021 or 2022 that it seems their companies were quietly trying to unwind.

The BBC said, quote,

Some are finding an unwelcome surprise

as they scan listings for open roles.

A salary bump is all but impossible.

...