Years ago I left a great job that I loved working at a Fortune 200 company because I had to make a family-related move. The company I worked for also had a significant presence in the city I was moving to. My boss gave me a referral to someone there with the logic that I was already known to be a reliable contributor, and at the very least it would be lower risk for the company to move me there rather than hire a new unknown person.

I got several job offers in the new city including one from the same company. Problem was...the company was 20% lower than the best of my other offers! Apparently there was a company policy limiting how much of a raise could be given, so they straight-up couldn't compete. I got the distinct impression that I could have taken a job with another company, then come back 6-12 months later and gotten a much higher offer. Basically mandated turnover. Talk about an awful policy.