[swiftcoder]

> It was purely about maxing your compensation because changing jobs nets you more than promotions & raises.

You don't view it as a problem that companies consistently compensate new hires higher than they are their experienced employees?

Hell, I would have been perfectly happy to never change employers in my entire career to date, if my salary had anywhere near kept pace with my peers who were job-hopping.

[busterarm]

> You don't view it as a problem that companies consistently compensate new hires higher than they are their experienced employees?

It depends on the current employee and the incoming employee. They are not interchangeable cogs. Also not everyone consistently provides good value over their tenure -- a lot tend to work hard early and then for various reasons taper off. It's not necessarily their fault, but companies definitely are aware of this.

Personally I tend to value growth of my skillset over growth of income and that has largely informed my movement. I move when there's no longer interesting work if the compensation is at least fair. I've never been about comparing myself to others -- especially when most of my peers' left the industry after 5-10 years.

[swiftcoder]

> a lot tend to work hard early and then for various reasons taper off

And you don’t think that has anything to do with incentives (or lack thereof)?

> I've never been about comparing myself to others

Doesn’t have to be about comparing oneself to others. More about the cost of living increasing because software engineering salaries are rising around you…

[busterarm]

> And you don’t think that has anything to do with incentives (or lack thereof)?

No, that's almost never it. It's mostly life circumstances, burnout, frustration with management, etc.

> More about the cost of living increasing because software engineering salaries are rising around you…

We're already talking about very well-paid software engineers here. Appealing to a sense of sympathy over cost of living concerns of 1% earners and them trying to become 0.5% earners isn't exactly a strong argument here...

[swiftcoder]

> It's mostly life circumstances, burnout, frustration with management, etc

I feel like all of those things are assuaged by more money, and not having to spend half your time job hunting...