You hit it on the nose. That's why I went to go work for a MSP. My previous employer knew full well that I was underpaid, but didn't want to bring my pay anywhere near DOL medians for the area. I saw a lot of job openings where that wanted the guy to do everything from tech support to DBA all for $40-$50k. I looked for a job where the position is where the money is made and not burdensome overhead. I left for a 60% increase that they didn't even bother to try and counter to my boss' dismay.
At the MSP, the sales team needs work and there needs to be more staff in Tier 2 where 98% of incidents are solved. The company has problems, but they're open minded, look for ways that can be improved, and are open to solutions from the peons.
I think part of the reason why some companies that can justify the cost of a larger IT dept. is they don't know how to find the right qualified people. Yes there are other reasons, however I've done my fare share of being the interviewee and interviewer. Interviewers don't always know how to ask the right questions and weed out wrong candidates and over 90% candidates are not qualified for the job they're applying for. A number of applicants either fudge their resumé or the recruiter does.
CSB:
I had one candidate that his resumé was fudged to hell by the recruiter. A number of old tech and non-relevant information was put on there. I asked basic questions related to that claimed knowledge and he just froze. I had to pull out of him that he didn't know. Unfortunately he didn't have the balls to say that is not on his original resumé and must have been put there by the recruiter, which I would have fully accepted.