The Talent System
The Digital Age DLC introduces a revamped talent system for R&D centers and software companies. Under it, lead researchers for R&D centers and lead programmers for software companies have to be recruited individually.
Why it matters
Each city holds only a limited supply of talented people, and companies compete fiercely for them. Act too slowly and you miss the most skilled researchers — the people any tech company depends on.
To hire a lead researcher, click [Hire Now] on an R&D unit.
What a job candidate shows
- Skill — the candidate’s current skill level.
- Salary — more skilled candidates demand more.
Once hired, the lead researcher’s details appear in the R&D unit.
Each R&D unit also employs ordinary researchers as team members, shown by the staff icons in the bottom-left corner. The talent system applies only to the lead researcher.
The lead researcher’s skill is the single most important factor in a unit’s research efficiency — the team’s performance follows the competence of whoever leads it.
In the example above, “Product Dev Skill: Computer” means this lead researcher specializes in Computer, at a skill level of 80.
Because talent in each specialization is scarce, hire the people you need early.
Employee loyalty
Loyalty is shown below the skill level. A more loyal employee is harder for a competitor to lure away.
- 80 or above — content where they are, and will not entertain headhunting offers.
- Below 20 — discontented enough that they may quit at any time.
There are two ways to raise it:
- Give a salary raise.
- Set a higher training budget.
As an employee’s skill improves they will expect to be paid more. Fail to recognize that growth with a raise and their loyalty erodes on its own.
Automated loyalty targeting
This raises salaries automatically to hold a loyalty level you choose.
Click [Auto] beside the loyalty value to switch it on, then set the Target Loyalty with the [+] and [-] icons. New functional units with talents take your most recent settings as their default.
Headhunting
If no suitable candidate is available, you can headhunt someone from another company. Click [Headhunt] to open the Headhunt window.
To take someone on you must offer a higher salary and a sign-up bonus equal to a year’s salary. The more loyal they are to their current employer, the higher the salary needed to move them.
Headhunting is expensive. Do it only when you are confident the person is worth the outlay.
Transferring talent from a subsidiary
Talent can be moved from a subsidiary company into your current firm.
Click [Headhunt Targets Include Subsidiaries] and the target list expands to include employees of your subsidiaries. Select one and click [Transfer].
Seeing which cities have talent
Before building a new R&D center or software company, check where the talent actually is. Your Human Resources Department lists the available people city by city.
Raising salaries in line with inflation
In a game with inflation enabled, team leads need regular raises that keep pace with it. Without them their loyalty falls, and eventually they quit.
Rather than adjusting every salary by hand, the game can do it for you. The option lives in the Human Resources Department of your Headquarters, and is on by default in a new game with inflation enabled.
