Sometimes? When I worked at a small company we had two java guys who basically sat around for a year because they were hired speculatively and we didn't end up

Sometimes? When I worked at a small company we had two java guys who basically sat around for a year because they were hired speculatively and we didn't end up using java, and the general manager hired a sales guy for the americas who never did anything and just sat in his office the entire time for two years. I think it depends on what the priorities of management are at the time. Sometimes money isn't the biggest issue and management may be very weak at examining productivity so you'll have excess staff.