We're in a labor market in which loyalty has and should have disappeared a long time ago. I used to have a nice stable job (7+ years), very happy with my 'arran

We're in a labor market in which loyalty has and should have disappeared a long time ago. I used to have a nice stable job (7+ years), very happy with my 'arrangement' but then wall street rankings started a process involving layoffs. I didn't get affected by the layoffs but after about 5 rounds where some of my friends/acquaintances got the boot, I saw the writing on the wall and actively started looking outside. Because it's way more comfortable to be laid off when you have an offer in hand. That's when I realized how underpaid I was. Since then, I made it a professional goal for myself to switch jobs every 2-3 years so that I don't leave money on the table, as the only loyalty I have is to myself and to my family. Every company, after a while, will start paying you less if you don't climb the corporate ladder to go into management. They will pay you as less as possible considering the risk of you leaving, slowly transition you into working on the old stuff while the new hires will get the green projects. Ok, I'm generalizing but nobody can deny that newcomers are always treated better. But mentoring transcends companies. I still have great professional relationships with past direct reports working in other places and more often than not they still ask for advice when it comes to their overall careers.