I’m saying that pushing your developers to improve will increase their market value, possibly outside your personnel budget. One possible outcome here is that

I’m saying that pushing your developers to improve will increase their market value, possibly outside your personnel budget. One possible outcome here is that they decide to leave and join a company that will give them a higher salary to reflect their increased skills. On the other hand, withholding opportunities for growth is also a way to frustrate employees and cause them to leave. Know your people, and take their changing needs into consideration when planning business strategy. There’s lots of strategies that can work here, but not all of them are right for every company. A few off the top of my head: - Build a training pipeline so you can regularly hire promising young developers for cheap and help them grow into a more senior position elsewhere. - As your developers improve, be prepared to give raises and promotions to reflect their increasing value. - Hire experienced developers with the skills you need at a fair price and offer stable employment instead of fast-track growth.