I think you've understood those words in precisely the opposite sense in which he meant. A possible implication of "provided the company stayed around" is that

I think you've understood those words in precisely the opposite sense in which he meant. A possible implication of "provided the company stayed around" is that it was around that time that they started going through a major phase of mergers, closures and downsizing. And, if this was his meaning, that's just Taleb obliquely and wryly stating that the 'company man' era was over.