Comment by roncesvalles

>the ability to hire the best talent

No longer true. Not since CFO Ruth Porat IBMified the compensation policy in the name of efficiency. Btw this is exactly you can't get away with underpaying tech talent - something new will come along that threatens to eat your lunch and if your team doesn't have the best people, you're finished. And you can't reverse reputation erosion overnight - part of the attractiveness of taking a high-paying job is that everyone knows you're being paid high.