I don’t think that’s true for our interactions with the recruiter. At least the ones I have talked to, couldn’t care less about my work. They only care about the odds of me clearing the interview. Their behavior is linearly related to that.
I'm talking about the labor market in general, and my point is that your value is not $X/year, your work's value is, and it's good for your mental health to make that distinction, whether X happens to be high or low.
You're talking about understanding the recruiter's incentives, and you're right that, like any sales people, they've focused on making the sale and getting their commission.