I would have at least offered the guy a job

On the one hand sure that would help him get into the industry, but on the other hand that can be the quickest way to tank both his enthusiasm and work quality.

Stellaris has hired modders before and the quality of their work plummeted because said modder was no longer the one in charge of both production quality and pace. Now they had someone in a management position stating what was to be done and how quickly.