I work in higher academia in a well-known US institution. We don’t pay amazingly (don’t I know that first hand), but we also pay better than other sectors of the economy and have much better benefits and a lot of paid time off that comes with our academic calendar.
We have been trying to hire administrative staff and have repeatably had trouble identifying qualified candidates, and when we do, we get our offers rejected. My suspicion is that these candidates know very well that they can just go to the private sector because they would get 2X the salaries there. To me, I am not entirely sure a higher pay would make me happier given that I would have much less time off, but I would be lying if I haven’t been considering leaving academia because of how much better I can get paid elsewhere. And it’s not like I’m not selling my soul to academia just like I would be in the private sector; it’s all in essence the same thing.
As someone in a position to recruit myself, I’ve been finding the situation fascinating, and while it has affected me adversely directly, I think it’s badass that employees out there know their worth, and that working for a highly visible institution and the prestige associated with that does not cut it for them. They don’t care about prestige. They care about their well-being, quality of life, and their prospects for personal advancement. Power to the People
And while many would argue that academia is highly bloated with administrators, I can tell you with certainty that this will all absolutely affect students adversely as well. Not that their education is worth a whole lot anyway; higher education is a fraud. Cheers. Enjoy your life while you still can.