That's a solid point. I agree with you when it comes to small pay raises - usually the pay is not the problem, if the person is leaving for extra 15% or so. >>

That's a solid point. I agree with you when it comes to small pay raises - usually the pay is not the problem, if the person is leaving for extra 15% or so. >>> very short term relief from the real reasons Unless the real reason is that the employee believes that he is being strongly underpaid. I'd define strongly underpaid as a situation, when an employee is certain that he could get (or already got) multiple job offers with 20%+ higher compensation. Because at the end of the day, vast majority of people work to earn money. Some employers try to make you feel that you are changing the world and what not, trying to say that it's not all about money, but well, it largely is about money. Some jobs are enjoyable where compensation is not extremely important (meaning that an employee would leave only for a significantly better deal), but I'd say that it's a rather rear case. At the end of the day, it's a free market. We all have a price tag :)