<story><title>New Intel CEO rehiring retired CPU architects</title><url>https://www.anandtech.com/show/16438/new-intel-ceo-making-waves-rehiring-retired-cpu-architects</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>This is an encouraging move.&lt;p&gt;My secondhand understanding was that Intel was losing top talent due to pressure to pay closer to median industry compensation. Top engineers recognized they were underpaid and left the company.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve been part of a similar downhill slide at a smaller company in the billion dollar revenue range. To be blunt, once the [mediocre] MBAs start realizing that the engineers are getting paid more than they are, the pressure to reduce engineering compensation is strong. Frankly, there are plenty of engineering candidates on the market who are happy with median compensation. Many of them are even great engineers and great employees.&lt;p&gt;However, being a top company in a winner-take-all market requires the top engineers. The only way to attract and retain them at scale is to offer high compensation. I&amp;#x27;m hoping that&amp;#x27;s part of what&amp;#x27;s happening here.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lmilcin</author><text>I left Intel years ago to get almost 3x the salary as a software developer at... a bank.&lt;p&gt;At Intel engineers are paid supposedly similar rates at similar levels and similar locations. And given my level (two levels above Senior Developer) I estimate I was paid better than at least 90% engineers.&lt;p&gt;Where I worked in R&amp;amp;D the doors were constantly revolving and many people admitted they wait to register enough of prestigious time at Intel on their CV to get hired at a much better rate for another company.&lt;p&gt;--&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see these moves as encouraging, more like signs of complete and utter panic. You go to these moves when whatever you do isn&amp;#x27;t working and you don&amp;#x27;t have strategy to do something new so you try to default on what has worked in the past (this both for the choice of CEO as well as bringing retired people).&lt;p&gt;This doesn&amp;#x27;t necessarily mean it is a wrong move (see Steve Jobs coming back to save Apple as a proof it doesn&amp;#x27;t have to be bad) but I wouldn&amp;#x27;t call it encouraging.&lt;p&gt;Rehiring retired people to me signals the new CEO has no trust in people that already are there. And that is usually bad news.&lt;p&gt;Add to it outsourcing &lt;i&gt;CORE&lt;/i&gt; competency to competitor (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eenewseurope.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;intel-TSMC-5nm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.eenewseurope.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;intel-TSMC-5nm&lt;/a&gt;) and it seems that if there is a plan it is to keep the ship afloat for a little while longer.&lt;p&gt;Hopefully the ship is going to be afloat for as long is necessary to reshape the organization, but I think we haven&amp;#x27;t yet seen any concrete moves to see what is the strategy.</text></comment>
<story><title>New Intel CEO rehiring retired CPU architects</title><url>https://www.anandtech.com/show/16438/new-intel-ceo-making-waves-rehiring-retired-cpu-architects</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PragmaticPulp</author><text>This is an encouraging move.&lt;p&gt;My secondhand understanding was that Intel was losing top talent due to pressure to pay closer to median industry compensation. Top engineers recognized they were underpaid and left the company.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve been part of a similar downhill slide at a smaller company in the billion dollar revenue range. To be blunt, once the [mediocre] MBAs start realizing that the engineers are getting paid more than they are, the pressure to reduce engineering compensation is strong. Frankly, there are plenty of engineering candidates on the market who are happy with median compensation. Many of them are even great engineers and great employees.&lt;p&gt;However, being a top company in a winner-take-all market requires the top engineers. The only way to attract and retain them at scale is to offer high compensation. I&amp;#x27;m hoping that&amp;#x27;s part of what&amp;#x27;s happening here.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>langitbiru</author><text>Reading all comments grilling MBAs in HN is one of my guilty pleasures. I think I need to collect them all and put them in one place.</text></comment>