It seems you're both right - but that good managers and good engineers are both rather difficult to replace. The problem being that replacement "good" managers

It seems you're both right - but that good managers and good engineers are both rather difficult to replace. The problem being that replacement "good" managers and engineers aren't just sitting around waiting for you to hire them - they're already in good jobs - see also: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/01/27.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/01/27.html Additionally, for managers, you can't promote from your summer interns.