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The industry used to have lifers in the last century. That reduced to 10 years at a company in the dotcoms. That reduced to 4 years at a company in the 00s. Tha
by nine_zeros 3y ago
The industry used to have lifers in the last century. That reduced to 10 years at a company in the dotcoms. That reduced to 4 years at a company in the 00s. That reduced to 18 months pre-pandemic.
Right now, I don't even know why software engineers should do anything but keep hopping jobs all the time. There is less value in promotions/raises/loyalty than in constant hopping.
- thfuran 3y agoBecause there's more to life than maximizing pay.
- nine_zeros 3y agoThe "more to life" part cannot even be obtained at massively profitable companies because the companies will yank you at the slightest sign of slowdown. You might not want to hop but the company might want you to hop.
- thfuran 3y agoI don't think my employer has ever laid anyone off. Some people have been fired for cause and some people have quit but no layoffs. Not all companies are giant corporate behemoths that run everything by metrics.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoI graduated in the mid 2000s and even then everyone knew to job hop to maintain competitive compensation.
- dehrmann 3y agoMaybe it's the era when I started working, but for ICs, I think 2-5 years is the sweet spot. Any shorter and you weren't fully productive at the company and never built connections. Any longer and your skills get too tied to the company and your perspective become stale.
- commandlinefan 3y ago> but keep hopping jobs all the time Because if you do, they'll stop hiring you - that only goes one way.
- artursapek 3y agoYeah, as a hiring manager I get skeptical of a resume showing inability to commit.
- epicureanideal 3y ago"Inability to commit"? More like, companies treat employees as disposable, don't give appropriate raises or promotions, and through their incompetence force employees to move on to obtain the market salary for their efforts. If anything, their existing company should be willing to pay MORE because they're already familiar with that company's systems and have useful knowledge built up over time. Many employees would love to "commit". When's the last time anyone offered a software engineer a 2 or 3 year contract, with a 6 months salary severance if they're terminated before the end of the contract? Who's afraid of commitment here?
- artursapek 3y agoDuring healthier job markets, I've seen tons of candidates job hopping every 12-24 months to get better pay etc. This is wasteful of time for the companies, who train these employees up before they're fully productive. Now, in a recession, there is more of a scarcity mindset on the side of the workers as you are showing.
- BeFlatXIII 3y agoIf the old employer didn't want the training investment to go to waste, they should've paid more.
- epicureanideal 3y ago> This is wasteful of time for the companies, who train these employees up before they're fully productive. Nah, it takes a few months at most. > Now, in a recession, there is more of a scarcity mindset on the side of the workers as you are showing. Nope, just saying that employees respond to how they expect to be treated. Also, you avoided most of my main points.