Mobility To Front Office Vs Hiring Freeze - Is Sticking It Out Here My Only Option?

Posted on AM forum but looking for insight here too:

Currently in a middle office quant role at a shop with a history of good internal mobility. I'm gunning for a spot on our macro desk & have built good relationships with the right people, but unfortunately (like many places I'd imagine) there's a freeze on hiring for the foreseeable future - don't have visibility on when this would change.

Don't have much long-term interest in my role, but is sticking it out here pretty much my only realistic option? I assume it's a much harder sell to make this move externally, but would it be at all useful to just find people at other shops who are on the kind of teams I want to be joining and emailing them? Would pitching some ideas tip the scales at all here? Any thoughts here much appreciated.