Except that it's a false economy, and rarely works that way in practice. Either you have decent technical talent, or the dead sea effect. If your workplace is

Except that it's a false economy, and rarely works that way in practice. Either you have decent technical talent, or the dead sea effect. If your workplace is mediocre, and you're good - you'll leave. The only people who "stick around when things get crappy" are the people who have to - either for life reasons or because they can't find a better job anywhere else. Your company might win in the short term, but once you've gone too far down that path, you'll start losing and never recover.