tl;dr - Yes. I worked at one company for a long time (10+ years). There was something about it that really bothered me, and it took me a long time to be able t

tl;dr - Yes. I worked at one company for a long time (10+ years). There was something about it that really bothered me, and it took me a long time to be able to articulate it. The way I eventually phrased it: You are what you were hired to be. I was hired as a junior engineer, and it seemed like no matter how much I learned and how much more I contributed to projects, I was at least partially viewed through the lens of that initial hire as a junior engineer. I had to fight hard for promotions, and like others have said, the commensurate pay only came after I had been operating at that level for some time. Once you know this, it's not so bad. I'm happy where I am now, and I'm not job hunting. But I know I won't want to do this exact thing forever, and when the time comes for me to make a change, it will very likely be to another company. I tried too long before to find career growth satisfaction with one employer. I gave them too many years to underpay me (it's more than just pay of course, it's the recognition that your value to them has increased).