despite the financial crisis people like me, engineers, keep moving between companies, some people for money, some others for new challenges, but that is not the whole picture…
people need to be properly rewarder, made confident that what you do makes sense, being told the good and the bad of the company, give them hope that they’ll grow in the company and there will be always a place for them, and ultimately that the company will be always capable of paying for the bills
no, Nokia, laying off “god knows how many people”, is not a good way to gain trust from ur people… I better move on my own instead of waiting u to lay me off… and I did it
no, “startup-pb”, laying off an engineer the same day i get on board, is not a good welcoming message for me… even worse when I discover that 6 others have been dismissed in the 5 months before with the same unfaithful excuse
no, “startup-book”, telling only the good and not the bad, doesn’t help… everybody will just think everything is good
even at Google, it is not the first time that I hear people leaving cause of bad management… there is a huge disparity between the way engineers are considered, and everyone else in the company…
so, even in bad times like these, engineers, and other technical people, just move
and u are not losing only a person, or a human resource as u call him/her, u are loosing company knowledge and an investment that will be ***ing expensive for you to substitute… just look at how much head hunters pretend, and how long it will take to train or get up to speed the new person
and ultimately… yes, a nice and welcoming office space, matters
Guido Maria Serra 
There are good firms out there but they’re very spread apart. I have the privilege of working with one now, and have i had some dud gigs b4…
Things to check in a hiring interview –
. During the office tour ask “and how long have you worked here” to a few (staff turnover)
. Beware of firms with a lot of young staff (cheap company, not willing to invest)
. Beware of “nerdy” managers (they can be weak and indecisive devs that “stayed” when everyone else left)
. People loafing instead of working (weak sales pipeline or weak management or high staff attrition)
This is an interesting look at what companies can/should be doing to retain employees:
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664
Finding a good job is not as simple as it seems and eventually you will find that the best master of your work is yourself, but it will be even harder because then you have to rely only on your inner strength.
Break a leg ! (Good luck!)
@Maruko: what I learnt is that alone u don’t go far away… or at least, u work like hell, u get paid peanuts (compared to the amount of worked hours), but u have big satisfactions
on the other hand, if u want to see projects of a certain size, u need to work for an organization… it is the only way to focus on something properly
and yes, on one thing u are right… “Homo faber est sue quisque fortunae”
(every man/woman is the blacksmith of his/her own destiny)