You have to pay it back if you don't stay for at least 6 months or a 1 year, so there's not an issue of people leaving day 1. It's also been most common for ne

You have to pay it back if you don't stay for at least 6 months or a 1 year, so there's not an issue of people leaving day 1. It's also been most common for new grads I think. Presumably, to help them get a jump start on student loans and get set up comfortably coming out of college, which is of course a bigger problem in the US than anywhere else. But it seems to be becoming more common for mid-level and senior engineers as well, in these cases I think it's basically a loophole to make up for the fact that bay area engineering positions are continuing to get more competitive to fill, and for whatever reason companies don't fully want to acknowledge this and increase their official pay bands faster.