*The problem is that the young engineers earning that much become well-fed farm ...

The problem is that the young engineers earning that much become well-fed farm animals at the very moment in their lives when they should be running like wild horses.

It's a great metaphor, and I've heard it before - Dave Thomas gave a presentation on Herding Racehorses, Racing Sheep: http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Developing-Expertise-Dave...