If I learned anything as a recruiter for 20 years it's that there are bad actors on all sides. Employers do sometimes rescind offers that could hurt job seekers

If I learned anything as a recruiter for 20 years it's that there are bad actors on all sides. Employers do sometimes rescind offers that could hurt job seekers. Candidates do accept offers and then not show up (counteroffer, better offer came late). Employees sometimes leave without giving notice. All of these things do happen. But none of these things happen often enough to make it "a thing". This article is basically some anecdotes about things that have happened, but not any type of regular occurrence in most professional industries. A high school or college kid is thousands of times more likely to quit without giving notice than anyone in a professional environment. If there is any takeaway in this article: * Your loyalty must be to yourself and your career. The days of employers seeming to take care of employees are over other than some rare occasions. You must make career decisions strictly based on what is best for your career and earning potential (short and long term). * Do your research - These companies that pull job offers on people probably have some history of doing it, and there are plenty of websites that offer horror stories. Ask around and do some research if the company you're speaking to doesn't have much reputation or credibility online or in the public domain. * Be professional - Especially in tech, career fluidity is much more common now than it was even 15 years ago. 2-4 year stints at companies are the norm. What does this mean? It means that your potential network is exponentially bigger than it would be if tenures were 10-15 years and turnover was low - you are working with a larger number of peers over your career, and those peers are going on to work for many other companies. You work for a 50-person startup that collapses, and those employees maybe join 30 other firms. Now your reputation (good or bad) has reached 30 firms. Bad news spreads. Give proper notice and treat employers as you'd like to be treated - hopefully they will reciprocate.