As I see it, you need to factor in the chain of employers too. For example, its easy to be a "dead wood" employee at a large employer. You can stay there as lo

As I see it, you need to factor in the chain of employers too. For example, its easy to be a "dead wood" employee at a large employer. You can stay there as long as you like, and get away with not doing much - in relative terms, I'm not talking literally twiddling your thumbs as the years pass by ! Meanwhile long service at SME size companies is worth more because there is nowhere to hide. On the short side of the spectrum, absolutely without any doubt whatsoever, anything less than 2/3 years pattern is a MAJOR alarm bell. Why ? Because less than 12 months basically means you keep getting fired on your probation periods and you probably should not be touched with a bargepole. Less than 24 months and it sort of smells like itchy feet syndrome. So (IMHO) 3–5 years is sort of the sweet spot in tech. It shows you have a degree of loyalty, but also want to keep one eye on career progression - assuming your CV clearly reads like career progression, not ship jumping !