I'm not talking about formal training, I'm just talking about the fact that when you take on an employee in a knowledge job, it's usually quite some time before they start contributing positively, let alone reach their potential. In software, generally it seems to be around 6 months before a new player is a full member of the team, and the first 3 months of that they're a net negative because they're taking up more team time asking questions than they're saving by doing work.
3 months at say -10% productivity and 3 months at say 50% productivity does not add up to 100+k for most employees.
On top of that, new people really should be a net gain by week 3-4. It’s not about what they get done but the time they save other people. Inexperienced people may take longer to get up to speed, but they also cost less.
