Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

Computerworld - Cliff McBride wasn't exactly looking for a job. He was content enough with his work as a database administrator for the U.S. government. But then a friend of his wife's told him about Interwoven Inc., a hot Silicon Valley e-commerce company that was looking to hire. As it happened, Interwoven was throwing a brand-new BMW Z3 convertible, or its cash equivalent, into the bargain.
McBride's head turned.
BMW Z3s are among the trendiest of the new come-ons in this squeaky-tight information technology market, a market that is forcing recruiters and their clients to go through unheard-of contortions to attract and retain skilled employees.
Other attractions, including million-dollar "loans" that are wholly forgiven and expensive real estate, are increasingly common, says Brent Longnecker, executive vice president at Resources Connection, an executive recruiting firm in Santa Ana, Calif.
The scarcity of IT talent is forcing some employers to recruit highly skilled IT workers the way they recruit top salespeople, with tantalizing offers of sports cars, long vacations and other perks. What can a company in desperate need of skilled technical professionals offer? Here's a brief look at some positions that are extracting fabulous bonuses (some employees are anonymous, to protect their paychecks):

Chief Technology Officer
3Company: A Fortune 1,000 brick-and-mortar operation on the West Coast.
3Hiring bonus offered: $1 million, payable in $250,000 increments over four years.
3Experience needed: 10 or more years as chief technology officer (CTO) or MIS director.
3Skills needed: Candidate must be a proven, successful and "gifted" leader of a large IT organization.
3Attraction strategy: Experienced CIOs and CTOs with families to care for are more interested in financial security than in the risk associated with dot-com start-ups. To attract and retain top executives, established companies must create golden handcuffs. This company did this by constructing a "loan forgiveness program" - like those created for elite athletes - that doles out financial rewards over several years.
3Recruiting strategy: Go for broke, but don't go broke. The company offers its top-dollar "loans" - along with a hefty equity share in the company - only in very special cases.
"Too many companies give out 2% of their stock to senior executives as a matter of course," says Longnecker. "The person that brings (venture capital) backing with them and a reputation with a big e-commerce name like eBay may be worth 3%, but someone who can do the job may only be worth 1% or 0.05%."
3Retention strategy: Bend to the needs of top-level people. "If a CTO needs four weeks