So many economies in the toilet makes it a dangerous time to rock the boat at any business. "Me no likey yoo - yoo go bye-bye nao. NEXT!!" can be a legit tactic in a company who has a few hundred applicants every time a role comes up.

When skills are scarce the balance shifts the other way - unscrupulous employees screw companies down salary-wise knowing that it'll be difficult to fill their job. The rest of the payroll suffers when a group of greedy gits pull these sorts of tactics, de-valuing less specialist jobs.

There is a happy medium. Right now though, it isn't the climate for it. Pressured HR teams can be very creative when it comes to managing people out of a business.