In late 2020, Keri B., a recruiter, was working with a professional-services company that was desperate to hire.

It was so eager, in fact, that the candidate she placed managed to negotiate a starting salary that she said was $20,000 more than their new boss was making. "That was the first time that I was like, 'Wow, this is crazy,'" Keri, whose last name and place of employment are known to Insider, said. "I'm seeing people who are new grads just out of school getting really, really high salaries." READ MORE