The chances that people in a given area have a specific skillset or are of the commensurate skill level for a position, pushes the compensation necessary to entice those "equally qualified people" upwards. The issues is the tradeoff of compensation for office time. If individuals want less office time than the company consensus on policy (which implies attempted negotiation), all they can do is quit. If the company wants to spend more, they can choose to do that and will likely have to. It's not uncommon that a position sits empty, for some time, after a high level exit. It's equally possible this person was already in a position of weak confidence. It's unlikely that the public will be made aware of that level of detail. It's not as simple as swapping in cheaper, available labor, in the interest of corporate profit.