In just a very short 4 years, the US has seen a compound annual growth rate of nearly 15% for the S&P 500 (1/1/2013 to 1/1/2017), this is a rate of growth that has brought significant wealth to many of the fortunate people with investments in the stock market. But this type of growth has also spawned millions of new jobs and a concomitant drop in the availability of talent for further expansion. While the markets have been racing forward, the rate of salary and wages growth has largely been tied to the post-recessionary period of minimal growth. Most of the talent we've spoken to for the past 2 years have been receiving annual 'merit raises' around 2.5%. That's about equal to inflation, or slightly ahead. In short, wage growth is lagging the fervor of the economic expansion. Annual merit raises are deemed internal equity; i.e. every major company budgets for their annual payroll expenses and part of the responsibilities of the HR executive is to moderate the growth of wages; within budget. Most VP's of HR are bonused on meeting wage budgets.