So not true. I managed to hire some absolute _star_ performers from HP last year - right after they received a 10% pay cut (along with many of their likewise high performing colleagues). I don't know what was going through HPs minds, and I'd love to know if they lost a number of their great performers. Low - average end performers will have to stay, particularly in a down job market - but the great ones can always get jobs anywhere.

I assure you that pay increases in large companies in the valley are not a slam dunk 10% a year, particularly if you aren't getting a promotion to a new position.