Even if Yahoo has been on a downward spiral, it is foolish to think that all of the good people will leave. Even if you are good at what you do, trying to find a new job is a humiliating, degrading, and terrifying experience for many people.

I'm not a programmer (yet), but I work in a technical field that is currently experiencing a similar level of growth. Having worked for the same employer for over 9 years, it wasn't an easy decision to make when I decided to leave. Now that I am searching for a job in an industry where everyone claims to be facing a desperate shortage of qualified personnel, I find it rather difficult to convince someone to even grant me an interview.

It is far too easy to judge the actions of a family man who has a wife and kids to worry about when you are the CEO of your own company.

There are a lot of good people toiling away at Yahoo for one reason or another. In particular, work visas can tie you to the company for a good portion of a decade.

Just to take one example I'm familiar with, Flickr still has a lot of top-notch people.

Not to mention, I guess Yahoo! tends to pay really well (that won't be matched by Google/MS etc)

And then there is Yahoo Research, who do produce quality work...