You don't get top pay & top job stability, that's life.

Job stability implies staying somewhere for a long period of time, and that's generally not how you maximize compensation.

Compensation maximizing career management usually involves moving every ~5 years or so, depending on industry.

But I'd rather make more money AND have more opportunities/experiences than to rely on the continued benevolence of my single long term employer.

When they start sorting spreadsheets by compensation for layoff purposes, you are already in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being paid less for years and years so that you are lower down the spreadsheet isn't a career strategy.