Let's say a talented employee makes his company 10 000 dollars of profit each month, while costing 1000 dollars in salary. An untalented employee might however

Let's say a talented employee makes his company 10 000 dollars of profit each month, while costing 1000 dollars in salary. An untalented employee might however only make the company 5000 dollars of profit each month, while costing the same 1000 salary. The company still makes money on the untalented employee, so it's not right to talk about cost. This is how things work in most companies.