Why work for a company that you wouldn’t like to work for for those 2 years rather than work for the company you want for the same time period and gain seniority?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/cameronkeng/2014/06/22/employees...
There is a term for it "pay compression"
But money isn’t everything and those pay rises suck I get 5-6% p/a without asking, must have been a heck of a bonus cut then.
But even at 5-6% raises, that doesn't compare to the roughly 11% "raises" I've received by jumping jobs 4 times since 2008.
As far as money isn't everything. Yes there is a trade off between how much I'm willing to accept and commute times. All in all, the only reason I go to work every day is for the compensation.
As far as I can tell, the gravy train is over as far as being able to make 10K to 20K+ to switch jobs if I still want to be an active developer and I'm not willing to relocate. I'm okay with that. Now the criteria for jobs are what new skills I can learn, comparable compensation, new challenges, and work life balance including the commute and work for home opportunities.