Yep, shares are part of the comp package, it's entirely natural that employees want to turn the fruits of their labour into liquid cash at some point.
There is a valid argument that that's a perverse incentive, and that companies should just pay employees better to begin with, or have various longevity/performance-associated bonuses, but if the company isn't profitable, share value is perhaps the best way to represent that.
And on top of that, employee share schemes tend to get very favourable tax treatment. So overall "skin in the game" is no bad thing, the problem is that, in many/most cases, an exit is the only way you're going to get your skin back out of the game.
There is a valid argument that that's a perverse incentive, and that companies should just pay employees better to begin with, or have various longevity/performance-associated bonuses, but if the company isn't profitable, share value is perhaps the best way to represent that.
And on top of that, employee share schemes tend to get very favourable tax treatment. So overall "skin in the game" is no bad thing, the problem is that, in many/most cases, an exit is the only way you're going to get your skin back out of the game.