> Even if you're "just" a 500 people company, expect the investment into getting a new hire up to speed to be at least a year's worth of salary

That was my case when I was hired to a DAX50: My manager told me to get the first year to learn about the company. At the first moment, I thought that was stupid and in 3 months I could be up to speed. For the technical and product part it was quite everything OK in 6 months; the part that took more time was the organizational and getting the organizational capital.