As a hiring manager I have found that this adjustment already started occurring about two years ago. Firstly, the market for technical talent is so competitive

As a hiring manager I have found that this adjustment already started occurring about two years ago. Firstly, the market for technical talent is so competitive right now, that cash is an easy way to compete for people and salaries have been driven up. More importantly, people have become far more sophisticated about options and what a payoff is likely to look like. Ten years ago I would never be asked a question like "how many shares are there outstanding on a fully diluted basis" but now I hear it essentially all the time. edit: grammar