Ask HN: Are you a “lifer”? If so why?
Unfortunately salaries rot.  Like vegetables in the fridge.  I've been doing this a long time, I can assure you that most if not almost all companies let your salary go through attrition by itself with inflation, while new hires get paid market rates.You can observe this as a manager, when you can see the salaries of people and watch the pay inequity get worse and worse to punish people who have been there a while.I don't know what mechanism causes this, but it's likely related to leverage:  when you don't work there, you have leverage to ask for more.  Now that you're there, especially if you are loyal, they have the leverage unless another offer comes along.