>Forget the money for a moment, when there is nobody to pick from or you are constantly entering into a bidding war with Application A who has received an offer

>Forget the money for a moment, when there is nobody to pick from or you are constantly entering into a bidding war with Application A who has received an offer from Google for $250k per year and all you can offer is $125k and perhaps some other perks, is that fair? Google aren't paying $250k because they think the applicant is worth it or that is the going market rate, they are paying this much because they know the application nine times out of ten will say yes to a ridiculous sum of money, because they need a developer and the cost is irrelevant to them and because they can. How is this not fair? If Google can offer more money to hire a skilled developer, they will. To get top talent you have to pay for it. >Smaller companies with half the profits and budgets shouldn't have to compete or die, it just is not fair. Yes it is. Compete or die is the entire basis of the US economy, isn't it?