[stemlord]

>We've had two good employees leave in good times for less work for more money. Both came back after a few years when boom business cycles that drove that dislocation reverted to the mean.

Did they experience a pay increase between leaving and coming back?

[jll29]

Because large organizations are slow to respond to market forces, it is typically easier to get a rise by leaving and coming back than by staying on, which is a shame.

Worse, in many places, people who stay on for half a decade or more are assumed permanent fixtures ("Bob has been here forever, he doesn't want to leave, or he can't get a job elsewhere") that are unlikely to ever leave, and therefore may be ignored when salary adjustments are conducted.