I get what you are saying but you would be surprised how fast financial forecasts balloon at scale.
200 developers @ $150k a year = $30M
$200M/$30M = 6.5 years
It’s also not $150k/year. Employees cost far more than their salary.
Rule of thumb is double. So if you're average total comp is $150k then total cost for each of those employees is $300k/employee (office, expenses, HVAC, insurance, etc..)
I think you’re both saying the same thing. Op is saying 1 employee for 1 year is “1 employee-year”.
Companies exist to make money, not to be a charity for their employees.
So you're saying companies shouldn't do acquisitions?