Having been employed at both very small and very large companies, my experience is that the former cannot compete, while the latter prioritise money over talent

Having been employed at both very small and very large companies, my experience is that the former cannot compete, while the latter prioritise money over talent. Two examples to illustrate this. Back in the 2000s, I got an offer from a larger corporation, for 25% more than what I was making at the time. Told my then manager and his counter was a 5% raise, plus a not quite moving “we are all a family here” speech. It wasn’t only me though, at least ten other engineers left in a few months, all were offered between 3% and 7% raises. The team was eventually disbanded and people were reassigned to other projects. After some years, someone told me that they simply didn’t have the budget. In the late 2010s, while working at a large multinational, I asked for a raise. At the time, I was repeatedly told that the project I was leading was, by far, the most impactful of the whole division, so I thought I would deserve it. Manager went to HR they recommended that I shouldn’t get a raise, since I was doing “well” already, according to their salary charts. Now, my manager could have fought it harder, but the disconnection and power over budget HR and higher ups have, made it so difficult and dragged for so long, I ended up leaving.