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That's because companies don't give them raises commensurate with their new experience. Each year for the first 2-3 years or so a new employee that's any good

That's because companies don't give them raises commensurate with their new experience. Each year for the first 2-3 years or so a new employee that's any good should be receiving large raises on top of their presumably modest starting salary. The problem is that companies think they can get away with keeping people anchored to those starting salaries. It doesn't work; morale suffers and they leave. Finding a young employee and turning him into one of your superstars is a really gratifying feeling. Watching him leave because obstinate business owners refuse to pay him what he is now worth is infuriating. I've experienced this several times in leadership roles and it is one of the many things that convinced me to start my own business.

krschultz 14y ago
That really is the crux of it. I got a 4.5% raise after my first year - not bad in this economy. I'll probably get similar this year. My girlfriend switched jobs after 18 months and got a 100% raise.
wccrawford 14y ago
Exactly. My first company did this for me, and I stayed and was loyal for 2 years beyond when they stopped treating me fairly. I'd still be there, happy and productive, if they had continued paying me what I was worth instead of claiming the economy wouldn't let me. Shortly after I left, they put out a job posting for 7 people, each at more than I would have accepted to stay. The job I left for was paying even more than that job posting, and I'm still here today. So why did they do that? Why treat me fairly initially, then stop? They didn't really gain much. I was unhappy for 2 years and my job performance suffered for it. They replaced me with people who didn't have my knowledge of their systems, and they paid them more. It was absolute insanity.
- vonmoltke 14y ago
  My last company, which is used to having lifers working for them, operated under the assumption that if they kept an employee for the first five years out of college, they usually had them permanently. They assumed people like me[0] were rare. This attitude persists in spite of their issues with college hire retention over the past decade. Its possible the management at your first company had a similar attitude. [0] I left 5 months shy of my 10th service anniversary
- berntb 14y ago
  I've seen it argued -- from people that seem to know much more than I do on this -- that HR knows most people will grumble and not leave.
  - sesqu 14y ago
    I've heard many an anecdote in support of this, except with the addendum that after a few years of grumbling and increasing in value, they do leave and on bad terms.

krschultz 14y ago

That really is the crux of it. I got a 4.5% raise after my first year - not bad in this economy. I'll probably get similar this year. My girlfriend switched jobs after 18 months and got a 100% raise.

wccrawford 14y ago

Exactly. My first company did this for me, and I stayed and was loyal for 2 years beyond when they stopped treating me fairly. I'd still be there, happy and productive, if they had continued paying me what I was worth instead of claiming the economy wouldn't let me. Shortly after I left, they put out a job posting for 7 people, each at more than I would have accepted to stay. The job I left for was paying even more than that job posting, and I'm still here today. So why did they do that? Why treat me fairly initially, then stop? They didn't really gain much. I was unhappy for 2 years and my job performance suffered for it. They replaced me with people who didn't have my knowledge of their systems, and they paid them more. It was absolute insanity.

vonmoltke 14y ago
My last company, which is used to having lifers working for them, operated under the assumption that if they kept an employee for the first five years out of college, they usually had them permanently. They assumed people like me[0] were rare. This attitude persists in spite of their issues with college hire retention over the past decade. Its possible the management at your first company had a similar attitude. [0] I left 5 months shy of my 10th service anniversary
berntb 14y ago
I've seen it argued -- from people that seem to know much more than I do on this -- that HR knows most people will grumble and not leave.
- sesqu 14y ago
  I've heard many an anecdote in support of this, except with the addendum that after a few years of grumbling and increasing in value, they do leave and on bad terms.