I think it is highly dependent upon the industry and job. I've interviewed and hired dozens of other developers and never met one that knew the first thing abo

I think it is highly dependent upon the industry and job. I've interviewed and hired dozens of other developers and never met one that knew the first thing about the industry we're in. We have a complex suite of products and to get someone up to speed will take investing a not insignificant amount of time. So when I see a large succession of sub-year stints I'm going to ask. I've hired many people who were contractors in the past, or who had issues with past employers, but I'm certainly going to want to know what the issues were so I can be sure they aren't going to have them at our company. Both employer and employee want to minimize the risk of a quick exit as the hiring/job-seeking cycle is financially and emotionally expensive.