Well yeah, but not every company has "meaningful" work for everybody. Not every "facebook for hedgehogs" startup is going to motivate people to work by offering

Well yeah, but not every company has "meaningful" work for everybody. Not every "facebook for hedgehogs" startup is going to motivate people to work by offering an austere workplace. And most of the time you have to do the slogging kind of work, even in a place that is building something pretty cool. Somebody has to sweep up. Somebody has to wash dishes. So yeah, when I see articles that are about how pay and perks don't motivate people more than meaningful, engaging work, I agree but ... A place that is simply unwilling to give better pay and perks when it has the cash is, simply put, de-motivating.