It's not that wages would necessarily go up without collusion, it's that the companies would become significantly less productive.
If you can keep your top people from being poached by your peers, you reduce the number of opportunities for them to leave (even if they would leave for much the same salary) and reduce your team churn, increasing productivity.
Increased productivity => MOAR PROFITZ, or so I've been told ...
If you can keep your top people from being poached by your peers, you reduce the number of opportunities for them to leave (even if they would leave for much the same salary) and reduce your team churn, increasing productivity.
Increased productivity => MOAR PROFITZ, or so I've been told ...