I think that's a big mistake. Getting used to people at the company, learning about the industry, learning new technology, developing new skills in general -- all of these are investments with a long-term (multi-year) payoff.
I think one way you should reconsider your statement is to invert it: how will a company behave different if they can only make investments in their employees that pay off in one year? Two years? Ten years? Japanese companies (still) train people knowing that they can afford to take a loss on them for the first couple years, and recoup it later.
I think that's a big mistake. Getting used to people at the company, learning about the industry, learning new technology, developing new skills in general -- all of these are investments with a long-term (multi-year) payoff.
I think one way you should reconsider your statement is to invert it: how will a company behave different if they can only make investments in their employees that pay off in one year? Two years? Ten years? Japanese companies (still) train people knowing that they can afford to take a loss on them for the first couple years, and recoup it later.