>is probably producing even more value to their employer than that That's the crux of the argument, though. Google can afford to take a loss on the employee's

>is probably producing even more value to their employer than that That's the crux of the argument, though. Google can afford to take a loss on the employee's salary for years, just to keep them from a competitor. We're not talking about Google arbitrarily paying a developer more than their competitors, we're talking about Google diverting funds from other business units to cover costs.