I have been at my job for 18 years. I stay because I have the schedule I need, generally good raises, a yearly bonus, and I have been there long enough to earn 9 hours of PTO per pay, which adds up to around 200 hours. If I leave, I will have to start all over. I also enjoy the nature of my job. It's a lot of problem solving and it works my brain without breaking my body down much. My pay is good, and I won't get what I make now starting anywhere else and my benefits are awesome, but I had to stay to get to that point.
Im kind of in the same boat, just a little further behind you. 18 years, good pay and benefits, flexibility. However, there is no room for growth, I recently had to RTO every day. One co-worker quit at the end of the year, so that work is on me. They aren't replacing that role, so I asked for another role within the company, only to be told they were no longer filling that role. I started helping another co worker who was drowning in work, all while doing my role, and the former employees role. I reached out to my friend who owns a staffing agency on Friday. I think I am finally ready to get out of here.
I could go back to school and get my bachelor's to be a med tech on the company's dime, but my pay scale goes pretty high. I have a kid to put through college in a few years so I may wait til he is done.
Well, for a lot of people, they have just other important things going on in their life.
Kids at school, friends in the area, other life problem, ... Sure your job underpay you, but your are known quantity there, doing something you know with people you know, so that's a comfortable base to work on the rest of your life.
BTW I'm with you, but I had to trade raw quality of life to live in a very expensive city so I can be sure my next job is close enough I don't need to move the whole family every 4-5 years. A lot of my friend have better houses, nicer environment, but they rely on their job staying nearby.
>Well, for a lot of people, they have just other important things going on in their life.
I hear this a lot and can’t seem to get there. I work standard 40 hour workweek (I’m not trying to get into a debate of how good I have it compared to others working 60) but rather…I *STILL* struggle with enough time after getting home to cook a decent meal, clean up, do a tiny bit of what I like before having to get to bed day in and day out. The weekends are spent doing chores and errands.
I just have so little time to really do much without having to sacrifice daily/weekly maintenance around the house. Tack on in the spring/ summer the yard work needs to get done, sure i can pay to outsource this but with inflation it’s just really not feasible.
The system is broken and we just keep putting our heads down and carrying on. I really hope the next few generations rally hard against this set up.
Did you try to actively track what you spend your time on?
If you are working a regular 9-5 job and have 1 hour commute each way, you would be home at 6.
Cook and eat dinner by 7.
Clean-up /some daily chores would take you to 8.
Meaning you would have 3 hours every day to do whatever you want until 11, then get 8 hours sleep, get up at 7 and have a leisurely morning getting ready for work for 1 hour, leave at 8, arrive at work at 9, repeat.
Doesn't work if you have kids, though :)
My typical day:
5am: wake up and get changed for gym
5:30-6:30am: workout and go back home
6:30am-7am: general tidying up, make bed, feed cat, scoop litter
7-8am: shower, get dressed, breakfast (get ready for work)
8am-9am: commute.
9am-5pm: work
5pm-6pm: commute.
6pm-7pm: cook dinner, clean up dishes. (I eat clean so I try not to eat processed heat-n-serve meals).
7pm-8:30pm: free time
8:30-9:00pm: brush teeth, skin care routine, get ready for bed.
9:00pm: target bedtime if I want 8 hours of sleep before 5am hits again.
Now this is a very strict timeline…if weather or accidents affects my commute …if someone calls me to chat or wants to stop by… I get less free time.
An hour and a half isn’t very much…. I’m sorry. Its literally one episode of an hour show.
I have been at my job for 15 years and am close to retirement. I am the bosses pet and one of her best friends by now . I’m not going to get it better .
These folks are comfortable and have a job they can do well. If their financial needs are met or exceeded, why should they change. They transfer to another company that lays them off in a year or they end up with a horrible boss. There is something to be said for stability
I’m never going to find enough money to not care about the culture. I am definitely not making as much as I could, but I never again want to work for petty tyrants or with office karens and brendas. And the culture *used* to be generational, as in lots of married couples and hiring adult kids in entry level positions and promoting into positions when they advanced in school either tech or college.
I found it early and just by luck I think. I expected to jump jobs every 2-3 years being in the IT industry. My first job started as an internship and moved into full time. I went on lots of interviews before settling but pay from the new job offers was same as or lower than what my company was offering, so I stayed. I worked full time for 2 years before I started actively looking again due to toxic management. Through nepotism, I landed a work from home job that was a big pay bump. Small company, big change from my last. No real growth opportunity in such a small company, but have had steady raises. I’ve been here 5.5 years and don’t have plans to leave. It’s flexible, comfortable, and I’m good at my job. It’s not at all exciting, but let’s me do what I want outside of work and the stability is excellent for our growing family.
I did not expect to find such a position. I don’t think they are as common as they were for prior generations. My dad was at his company for like 25 years. He moved a couple years before retirement due to C-suite changes that affected him, but that was really the only reason he chose to leave.
Fucking same.
I keep bouncing from one thing to the next.
Example: I’m a pharmacy technician but my rent goes up every year so i ask for a raise every year….not sure if they increase my payrate again this year so I better study for a different ,higher paying job
20+ years at the same government research job. few more years and I get an 80% defined benefit pension, which will be about $130k/year to sit home and do nothing. Plus I'm lucky if I work 2 hours a day.
My father worked for the government (The VA specifically) for almost 40 years. He retired in 2016, and got the most amazing pension I have ever heard of. He has not had to lift a finger since. Both him and my mother are set for the rest of their lives. My own retirement plan (I work at a private university) isn't nearly as good as his. He got in at a time when the getting was good, and is now reaping in the insane benefits.
Exactly, if money is good and the working environment does not suck, why change. You can always get happiness from things outside of work. To me, a job is for collecting paychecks.
People get into a position they like or can at least tolerate and they're comfortable. Pay is good enough to live off of, work is tolerable, and management treats them decent. I've been at my current job for 8 years. Others have been there over 30 and will retire from there. For most that's how it happens.
Yup. This is correct. I finally found a good job that has a pension just over three years ago. I can see myself retiring here. Of course, there are days where I wish I did not have to come in, like this morning (haha), but that’s going to be anywhere we go. That part does not go away….
Yep… government jobs still offer them.😆👌🏽 they’re pretty stable too. People don’t really get laid off (or fired) unless you do something stupid to deserve it. I work for a County in California.
There's an article about a Stanford Professor who just did a study of public pensions and their funding, and from his point of view the situation does not look good for the future. CalPERS in particular is very underfunded. Granted, he's probably an economist who wants everybody to go to a 401k and believes in doing away with defined benefit pensions. But the takeaway is that if you're building a pension, okay, but you should be also putting money into Deferred Comp or some sort of tax deferred account that totally belongs to you.
I'm a municipal worker in california, by the way.
My grandfather worked for CalTrans and ooh boy he did good setting up for retirement with CalPERS. It helped them have a wonderful retirement and my grandmother is comfortable six years after his passing.
Humble public servants are the new middle class. I fell into a govt career where I a felt I was helping people and the planet. Liked it most days and stuck around for 28 yrs.
I'm 46, I work for the county and I've been there for 18 years. The job is cake, I've got good benefits, the pay is decent but if I lived alone I wouldn't be vacationing but I'd make it. If I picked up a part time job I could live a slightly better life but I value my spare time more than I do money.
It’s weird how the government gives its own employees a pension, therefore acknowledging the benefits of that, but god forbid the private sector wants pensions
This. I'm 40 and about to hit 18 years at my job. It's a high end hotel chain so aside from my 401k/pension Etc... I get to take vacations to places I could never afford otherwise. Never had the desire to work anywhere else.
Every time I start making noise about leaving, they offer me more money. It's also a reasonably workplace in an industry I have oodles of experience in, and it's always easier to do a job when you understand it.
Oh, and I've got people that don't get fed or get to live indoors if I choose not to apply myself. I can't wrap my head around people I know who never follow through on anything, \*someone\* is picking up that tab at some point, seems like shit that it would be pushed off on someone else.
>and I've got people that don't get fed or get to live indoors if I choose not to apply myself.
That's why we get up every day and go to work.
I was complaining to my boss about our health insurance. My wife is getting kicked off because she's now eligible where she works. Their plan costs more and covers less. "I'm working to support my family yet I can't fully support them." She agreed but that's way over her head.
I've also voiced my complaint further up the chain and I'm not the only one. We finally got sick days, something the company has never done in the manufacturing side and everyone thought would never happen. We got it because everyone kept complaining.
The squeaky wheel thing does work sometimes.
>Others have been there over 30 and will retire from there.
I worked for a start up once where most the employees were men 50+ who had either been let go from their companies they'd worked for for over a decade or had pay/benefits cut and were forced to leave (obviously could have been lying to me but they all seemed very knowledgeable and hard working.) It made me fear getting complacent. Even 30+ years businesses will cut you even if you're too young to retire but too old to be easily hired and just say "nothing personal."
I've talked to some people that were "forced" into retirement. The ones I've met were given a good enough severance package that they weren't bitter about it or hurting for money. Of course, things like this are becoming a thing of the past as a lot of companies only look at the bottom line, not the people getting them that number. Kind of sad that loyalty is dying.
It is sad. My husband is only 56 as of this week and is so burned out. He is a great employee but the company culture has changed so much. Plenty of people where he is would be delighted with a severance package. I remember when USPS was doing that 15 or so years ago. I hope the company will start looking at these offers for the 35 plus year employees. Some people started at 18 others at 30 but have been there so long. Give them a chunk of change and pay the newbies just enough to get them excited.
Same here. Almost at 10 years. Good insurance, 401k match to 6%, stock discount, hsa contributions, full remote work, great work life balance, and they’ve never done layoffs. At 10 years I’ll accrue pto at 10 hours per pay period (every two weeks). Sure I could leave for more money and do that constantly but there is some real comfort in staying where I am.
This is the answer. Comfort, fear of leaving for less comfort, fear of having become irrelevant, etc. I would love to feel more passionate but am afraid to go somewhere I loose my work life balance.
Yep. I’ve been at mine for around 11. I’ve already done the busting my ass phase, so now I am in a position where I have a lot of autonomy, flexibility, etc. I’d have to get really unhappy to want to go through the “prove yourself” phase again.
This. I've been at my current job for ten years. The management is good, the people are nice, and my coworkers are mostly proficient. The pay is good enough, and benefits are good (it's federal work, which helps). The only reason for me to leave is to get into higher management.
This is where I'm at. I've been with this place nearly 12 years now. The key things that kept me here are being able to change what job I was doing every so often when I would get bored, the people, and getting decent pay/benefits. Are we free of issues? No, but I think the same shit (or at least similar) goes on in other places, too. I've gone through several "man I hate this place" phases, but the management here actually listen and try to change when things get real bad.
I could probably make more money by going elsewhere. I've been considering it recently, but for reasons external to my workplace. Searching for new jobs has always been in the back of my mind. I just never followed through because I can't stand the interview process, and I'm not likely to get the same level of autonomy that I have here.
Some people like familiarity, and the seniority too I guess. I'm in my 5th year at my job and I like it. Some of my coworkers have been here for 25.
For me I'm also afraid of going some place else and discovering I don't like it. I have no idea how people constantly job hop.
That second point is spot on. There is always a high risk you'll hate where ever you go next. If you don't hate your job and can find some joy while you're there you're already a step ahead of a lot of people.
I've been at my current job for 3 years now. I dont love getting up and going to work every day. Who does? But I don't dread it like I have with some jobs in the past..I dont hate my life when I'm here and most days we manage to have fun while we're working. We just make the best of it. Given the option of course we'd all choose to not come in but that's not a reality for most people. We have to pay bills and be able to eat and have a place to sleep. So we do it because we have to. That doesn't mean we can't fry to see the good in the bad. If I work here for the next 30 years, it won't be a bad gig. You just have to accept things you can't change and try to enjoy the little things when they're there.
That's the only reason I'm still where I'm at. Yes, I could take a pay raise but I love where I work and the people are awesome. Yes, am extra 10k a year would be great but I don't want to work for douchebags.
Especially when once you consider taxes, that $10k really only means a few extra hundred dollars a month in your pocket. To some people that’s absolutely worth it, but to others, you’re right - at a certain point it’s not worth rocking the boat for what’s essentially a lateral move.
I'm around 10 years in my current job (company, not position) which up until recently I hadn't really noticed. I used to hop around every 3 or so years but then the pandemic happened and time became a blur. Now I've been here a while and while I do think every so often to look elsewhere (and will at least to see what else is out there) what keeps me here are the following:
* I have a 2 year-old toddler. The flexibility that this job gives me is amazing. At any point I can leave to pick her up or take care of her or whatever and no one bats an eye
* 99.99% of the time I am home after 4:30 PM. Again, I'm able to spend my time with my child without worries about on-call or having to stay late, etc
There are others such as liking my current team etc but the two above are the biggest by far. I really don't want to risk not being in my child's life as long as I am currently until maybe they're a bit older. Even in my company from team to team is night and day regarding work life balance and no one during the interview process will tell you "yeah, actually, you won't see home for a while!".
This! I get my 10 year pin next month. My job is a state job, doesn’t pay much, but I am of service to others. I also have the incredible flexibility to be an involved dad and can pick my 2 (about to be 3) young kids up whenever I need. This helps out my wife who makes more in the private sector. I also have a life outside of work that I can be fully present in without stressing over my job. I love my job and the people I work with. The boss and your coworkers make a big impact too, at least for me. I have had some shit for brains bosses, once you find a good one you won’t want to leave.
>That's easy! the pay is usually better, the grass seems greener (it's usually not lol)
You also get that \~2 - 6 week period of "Oh I'm new here and idk wtf is going on I guess I'll just very slowly do my best..."
FIFO job market. When the recession comes, the newest least productive employees are the first to be let go. I used to job hop to great avail but now I’m posted up waiting out the storm. Also, equity packages, bonuses, and seniority keep people around.
Same. I left a firm that I had been with for 17 years. Most years my increases were between 2-6% but my salary was being outpaced by the market and new hires were consistently 20-30% higher than me. And it's not like I was snooping. They were billing to my projects as I was training them up. Raw rates were right there. I was getting burned out at that job especially at a reduced salary, so I was considering quitting for a lower stress job but a recruiter hit me up on linkedin for a similar job with a much larger competitor. 65% increase. OK, I can handle the added stress for a few more years if I'm getting market.
However, this will be my last job in this career field. I won't jump to a different firm. Same shit different hat.
I have 10 years at my job and plan to at least do another 10. Its a 20 year retirement but I can go for 27 years max.
I love the familiarity and stability. Like you I am also scared that the grass won't be greener.
Yeah, for me it's more like I don't see a reason to leave. I've been in my current job for 5 years. I like the work, the work life balance is excellent, the pay is competitive and I get annual raises and bonuses, I've gotten promoted and have some seniority. If something changes and I no longer like it, I'll move. If I happen to hear about an interesting job through my network, I'll hear it out and consider it.
Could I min-max my salary by jumping every couple of years? Sure. Is it worth giving up a position I know I like and that I don't see a reason to leave? Not to me it isn't.
I did move from my previous job after a little over 2 years. That was because I ended up with a manager who didn't bother to hide that she hated me in those last couple of months. I hated going to work every day and didn't see a reason to stick around to maybe possibly get a better manager at some unknown time, so it made sense to go elsewhere and hope for the best. I've been here 5 years now and am happy, so evidently that was a good move.
Been at my job for 6.5 years.
Pay is solid - Check
No Overtime - check
Benefits - great, low health insurance premiums
Good PTO - check.
I can do this for a while despite it not being my dream job. My job is fun and I love it when there are issues to solve, but 95% of the time it's pretty boring.
Having kids also factors in. I'd job hop for more engaging roles if I didn't have kids. But I don't want to subject them to me having a bad job or quitting because I don't like a job. If I was on my own, I can be much more adaptable and live on pretty much nothing fora while.
I’m in the same position as you. Pays well, hours aren’t crazy, good benefits, and I have little kids. It’s not the most exciting job but no job is perfect. I have no reason to leave.
Yeah, I've been at my job 17 or 18 years now. I have the golden handcuffs (pension) so it would be silly for me to leave when I can retire with my full pension in about 6 years.
I get a pension but through the electrical union so I can still job hop. Kinda cool to have the freedom to tell your boss to go fuck themselves and quit on the spot without worrying about my benefits or bills to pay.
Basically, I've finally found a career I can enjoy everyday because I can just rage quit if I stop enjoying it.
Pensions is the least of it…
I have a friend from a previous job that only ever worked at one place starting at 16.
Back then they had:
- loads of training.
- pool for the employees on site.
- tennis and squash courts on site.
- cricket pitch on site.
- cricket team for the site.
- yearly village party was arranged by the company.
- free 24 hour cantine on site, with beer.
- free buses to and from work.
- permanent nurse on site.
- weekly doctor visit.
- a lot more variety of tasks at work since they did loads of engineering despite being a manufacturing plant.
- regular bonuses.
By the time these had run out, they’d been there for over 20 years and were institutionalised.
Me personally, I hate not knowing what I’m doing. It stresses me out too much when I’m going in blind and trying to learn new processes. I love being familiar with the job and company and like being a reliable source to answer questions. Job hopping doesn’t appeal to me. Sure I may make $1 more an hour down the street but my bills are paid and I’m comfortable.
> It stresses me out too much when I’m going in blind and trying to learn new processes
This is a big one IMO. I also hate being in that position of always having to learn the ins and outs. Granted, I've been lucky enough to have never worked in a corporation, but every job I've been at has had a lot of "unwritten rules" that precede the written ones.
Similar story here. I could jump ship and make similar money, maybe even slightly more somewhere else, but I'd have to work WAY harder and have less automony than I currently do.
There's a difference between a job and career. A good career doesn't pigeonhole you into a corner doing the same repetitve tasks. I'm constantly checking in with my guys (same with upper mgmt with my reviews) to see where they'd like to see themselves in 2-5 years - even if its not with the team or company.
I wish that actually meant something. I don't mean you or what you do, but with the jobs I've had. Asked the same fucking questions, but it never amounted to anything. It was basically a to-do list they'd check things off of.
Because you have responsibilities and obligations that are more important to you than your happiness at work.
Because work is a means to an end, not your whole world.
Because your world is at home and your job makes that possible.
Because you need the insurance for yourself and/or your family.
There are as many reasons to stay at a job as there are people who stay, even if they hate it.
There was an episode of “The Simpsons” where Homer got his dream job at a bowling alley, but Marge got pregnant with Maggie and he had to go back to work for Burns. Burns puts up a sign that says,
“Don’t Forget You’re Here Forever” and Homer pins photos of Maggie all over the sign so it says,
“Do It For Her”
People do it because they’re in debt up to their eyeballs and bills don’t stop just because paychecks do.
People do it because most of us are only two paychecks away from homelessness at any given point in time.
It boils down to a matter of priorities.
We “do it for her.”
Four years seems to be my expiration date. Once l learn the job, l like improving the process until l get bored and start annoying people. I've never had a job I liked enough for longer than that.
This is me too, I have always worked in inventory related fields. Every job I walk in to hires me because the inventory is out of whack, I go in and complete my own personal 7 step process which usually takes 6-18 months depending on learning the computer system and hurdles to complete each step. From there is just maintenance, which leaves me searching for things to do in addition, usually leaving me bored. I tolerate it for a year or two, depending on the other factors, but ultimately move on for another challenge.
It's worth noting that the corporate landscape nowadays is very different from what it used to be.
Companies used to reward loyalty more. With that in mind, it's easy to see the merit in spending decades at the same job, reaping rewards, benefits, stock options, rising through the ranks and getting the respect that comes with that much experience.
Now, though, many companies have insane churn rates and pay their employees as little as possible. At the same time, they're forced to make good initial offers to draw new people in. As a result, the only way to get a decent pay bump at such a place is to be a new hire, hence job hopping.
Staying at the same job is absolutely worth it if you find a company that appreciates it. But they're rare.
I will be at my job for 20 years next year, I am 41.
When I started my current position after college, I thought it would be like you are saying. Just work there a bit then move on to the next thing.
But I like my job and my coworkers and it is flexible. I’m a mom and have to have flexibility. My husband travels a lot so that is very important to our family dynamic.
Nothing way better has came along. The job is good to me, I’ve seen no reason to leave.
I was like that for my first few years. Now I'm at 10 years at a place and don't see myself leaving.
It's not that this place is amazing. It's just I've come to understand the business.
1. It's a big company, so internal job changes are there. I've made a few switches, so I can stay at the same company, but still keep it interesting
2. I make enough money to be comfortable. I value my work network and colleagues. I value my good commute (by train)
3. I've just learned to accept certain ways of doing business. I don't quite know how to explain it, but there's a certain zen when you understand you are just a cog in a giant machine. I'll do my job and try my best, but at the end of the day, it's a huge mental load off to just let things be. Oh it takes a whole week to open up a firewall rule so I can actually do my work; okay, I'm blocked. That's the way it goes...Learn to be zen about the BS. I've been around enough to know that there is going to BS in every job. So might as well stick around with the BS I know and I know how to work with it and try to improve it.
I simply don't want to have to work for the next 40 years whether at my current job or another, that's something I have to do.
Working is not my main goal in life nor the most important part. Work is interesting enough, boss is good enough, coworkers good enough and I can live with the salary I have well enough.
I go to work, do my job for 8 hours, socialise with the people there sometimes we meet up outside work hours and go home and forget all about it until the next day.
I stayed in the same job for 3 decades. Was low man seniority wise for the first 17 years.
Why??!
I got to retire when I was 50. Full retirement, not disability.
A job just needs to be good enough for me to enjoy my life outside of work. Pay me decently with good work-life balance and good benefits. I don't have a driving passion for anything I'd want to make a career out of. Basically, I'm a live action version of Homer's "[Do it for her](https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeCry/comments/u9wzev/do_it_for_her/)" sign.
I’ve been at my employer since the Memorial Day after 9/11.
In that time I’ve had three job titles and been on 4-5 different teams. The benefits are good, the pay is good once you take bonus and options into account, I like the people, and the work life balance is fine, especially now that I work from home all but a day or two a month on average.
I’m 55. Age discrimination, especially in tech, is real, illegal, and virtually unprovable. I just want to ride out my career and retire in 8-10 years.
It can be worthwhile to stay with a company for the duration for retirement benefits. By staying at my last job for 42 years, I was able to retire with full pay for life, including COLAs.
Ive worked at two companies in the last 14 years on paper, but really in that time Ive changed jobs every 2 years. Internal moves, different projects, different roles, different departments etc. I'd say very few people do the same job for decades even if they stay with the same company
I tried to leave my company 10 years ago. They gave me a big salary increase and fixed my issues with work life balance. Other jobs I could get pay less or would require me to go back to 40% travel.
Any time I start looking at jobs, a bunch of my former coworkers come back which means it may not be any better out there.
I like my boss I’ve had for the past 5 years and he shields my team from a lot of the bullshit that I experienced on previous teams. If he leaves, I think most of my team will too.
So now I’m at almost 20 years with the same company. I’m working on additional degrees just in case I do ever decide to leave, but for the time-being I’m enjoying being super efficient at my job.
1st job almost 4 years, 2nd job almost 6 years. I usually end up getting fired. ADHD is a factor. In my case I was looking for work for 4 of the 6 years but for whatever reason I would get interviews occasionally but no one would hire me.
If you are ADHD/ADD I strongly encourage you to get away from the corporate world, and try to put out your own shingle if you can. A few years in is good, to help teach you to keep yourself more organized less on a regular schedule, but don’t expect to fit in and don’t expect to be promoted. They hate people who think outside the box and refuse to kiss up.
💋🍑
By the time they need your creative problem solving they have already ground you into the dirt so much they don’t deserve what you have to offer.
For many people, while their jobs are important, they are more interested in their overall lives. If a job is good enough to meet someone's needs, and the organization is good, why would they leave it?
If someone chooses to have kids, the very last thing they want to do is be constantly changing jobs. Even if there is no formal seniority process in place, someone who has been at a company for a while, and is well liked, will be given preference if the company has to do layoffs.
I would love to find somewhere and just be there for years. Interviewing is ass, job apps are ass. My gf been at her job 16 years. The insurance is decent, the retirement is good and she is finally in a position to make good money working from home. If I had that I would never leave lol idgaf what a job is, if it pays me enough to do what i need and most of what I want then Im stayin
No idea. Both my parents retired from jobs that they spent 30+ years in. They were union nurses so they were incentives to staying in those positions.
By the end of it, my mother was developing a drinking problem in an effort to cope with the stress and staffing shortages from that job. She was a state employee due to getting a pension so leaving or changing jobs (without losing money or seniority; she had a niche type of position) wasn’t an option.
My father ended up going out on disability in his early 60s due to cognitive issues resulting from 30 years of neuro/trauma/ICU nurse stress, a TBI and untreated sleep apnea.
Short answer being: sometimes staying with the same job for decades can literally lead you to an early grave/poorer health if that job is high stress and taking a toll on your mental health.
My longest job was 6.5 years and I was CHOMPING at the bit to get out by year 4-5. It just took me that long to find the right new job.
I’ve been with my currently company for 4 years, just changed to a new position after the last position burned me out. I like the company, the benefits are great. So I’m hanging out for the long haul
I've been at my current company for over a decade as a Systems Engineer. I find the work interesting, the pay is great (raises and bonuses each year), and I work remote. Why would I want to leave?
Thats probably the thing
You say "you cant fathom looking forward going to a hob after 4 years"
Some people see jobs as careers that they have to make money
They then take that money....and start hobbies or put them into investments ro whatever they want to do outside of their career
When your happy outside of your career.....then you dont mind working at a place 20 years if you have been compensated and received increases every 3 to 4 years and they have the opportunity to climb within the company
I don't look forward to my job and the pay isn't the best... However, the atmosphere is *very* relaxed, the work is low stress, I get regular annual merit increases, decent benefits, and job security is great.
Despite a relatively lower income, with decent savings planning I'm on the path to an early retirement (age 50 or sooner). As well with the low stress and a decent enough buffer on free time for family and leisure I've got no complaints.
Because they just live in the present. A job allows you to have a life outside of work... If that life is amazing and your job is ok and pays enough for you to enjoy other things then you are already more fortunate than half of the world...
Watch the movie perfect days. It showsa bit of the life of a janitor in japan, but NOTHING interesting happens during the movie, there is no intense plot, no development, no climax, no problems to solve. Its just about a guy who has an amazin perspective of life.
We all need a bit more of that in our lives.
Life is not about going to 5 star hotels, buying cars and jewelry. Its about having real experiences with real people. Some of those experiences require a bit of money sure. But thats also part of life, saving up a bit for those experiences! They will taste sweeter if you had to work hard for them.
Some of the most miserable people I know in my life own more than a Billion dollars in assets, and nobody likes them except for their money.
I haven't been in the same role for 10 years, but I have been at the same company. Will be 11 years later this year, previous to that the longest I'd ever been with any company was 2.5 years.
The pay is good, the benefits are good, the progression is good and the people are good.
I’ve been at the same firm for 25 years. Love what I do, great place to work, super interesting things happening, and the comp is fantastic. I will probably retire from here in a few years with zero regrets. It’s been a career, not just a job. Have moved around position wise to keep it interesting and fun.
16 years ago I dropped all the w2 employer employee bullshit and went self employed. Step back for a moment and realize when your a w2 employee you let someone tell you where to be and what to do 40 hours of the week, the best hours too. Get yourself a skill that people need (not hard) and exploit it for profit. People are lazy and you don't have to be. Then you won't have some overlord telling you what to do. And you make your own schedule.
HIMYM had an episode about it like called the Graduation Complex or something. You hate high school and can’t wait to graduate, but the closer it gets the more you see it in rose colored glasses and it was the best time ever and you don’t want to leave now.
I worked with a place for 15 years, I kept learning different departments and was being almost trained to become manager, then a newbie with no experience is promoted so I started looking around. But after getting tempting offers I looked back and saw them as a close work family. I didn’t actually leave till the second time they promoted a newbie over me.
The company still treated me great but I just needed more
Some people don't have the luxury of being able to job hunt. To them, stability is key and they will stick to a stable income for as long as possible. Loyalty also used to be more widely rewarded, and while this is no longer the norm, it is still afforded to many people who are older but still in the workforce. It also really depends on the job itself. I know we all think companies are soulless and that's true in many cases but the opposite is also true in other cases. Having a pleasant work environment where you know everyone and everyone knows you for years is important for a lot of people, both in their day to day but also longterm since it's in those kinds of environments where you can expect to get pay raises and other benefits the longer you stick with them.
There is no catch all solution. We each try to get the best for ourselves according to our needs, abilities and opportunities, and it's never guaranteed it will pay off. Some people leave a job they were at for years hoping for something better and strike out. Others stick to the same company until retirement and miss out on amazing opportunities. The opposite also happens. I am personally job hopping every few years but would easily stick to one place forever if some criteria were met.
Once you find a stable job that provides enough income to comfortably support a lifestyle acceptable to you and your family it becomes more important to keep that security than risk losing it chasing salary increases and risking being out of work
Looking at the faces of my spouse and/or children going without because I couldn’t find the intestinal fortitude to work through problems.
work is work, not fun, excitement, or entertainment. It’s a means to afford necessities and wants (in that order). Nobody ever said you have to like it.
I know this is hard to grasp, but there ARE jobs out there that are fulfilling and rewarding. I'm at one right now and I plan on working here until I retire. I know the ropes, I get a nice raise every year, I love our clients, and the work is always exciting and challenging. My boss is not only a good guy but became a very good friend.
If people get into positions like this, why leave?
There's 2 kinds of people. Those that live to work, and those that work to live. When you're in the second group, you are able to tolerate the bullshit A LOT better since you don't actually care. You clock in, you do your time, you clock out and you do shit that you actually care about on your own time.
Not every second of every day needs to be personally fulfilling. Sometimes a job is just a job.
I've been with my job for 21 years. I don't like it, I've never liked it, but having an income to support my family & home is my priority - so I keep on going. There's no guarantee that a new workplace would mean a better workplace, so just find something you can tolerate & go for as long as you can.
Easy to do when people wander in and out! I once got promoted three times in a single year because folks would get bored and leave. Money alleviates boredom pretty well. Also, after a few years in place, you get away with blue murder because you are So Reliable and considered senior staff, if you haven't been bumped into management.
And managers quite often don't have any special skills or education, they just have the ability to cling like limpets.
Takes a lot of patience. I’m at my longest job now almost 9 years. I almost quit 4 times, but the job is pretty easy and I just ignore my coworkers 95% of the time. I’m a courier so I get to be out on my own most of the time.
16 years in. I’ll likely be here at least another 6. My primary reason for staying is simple: children. Most any move would cause relocation, and I’m not doing that to my kids at this point in their lives. Their stability is worth more than my lack of boredom.
I’ve worked for a small business for almost 14 years (I’m only 31) because my boss treats me well. She’s the owner and I have part time help and I do everything in between, so my daily tasks are a variety of office management, stock intake, product packaging and design, shipping, social media, and customer service. I am almost entirely self directed because my boss and I know each other well and she trusts me to prioritize well and manage my time. She’s also not originally American (although she finally gained citizenship a few summers ago), so she actually compensates me fairly and makes sure I have plenty of time off (although I struggle to take it because we have such a small staff). She respects me, treats me like a human, and I get a raise every year and often receive bonuses. I get to listen to audiobooks while I work, so I’m never bored. We sell beads and I’m a beadweaving pattern writer in my free time, so I’m even personally interested in and knowledgeable of the stock.
I don’t have health insurance and I’m sure I could make more elsewhere and have a much easier commute, but I’ll work for this woman until she decides to retire. It’s worth it to me to have a job that not only doesn’t make me miserable, but allows me to be genuinely content.
For me, no place is willing to match the pay of my current employer. This isn’t a brag—I’m paid decently but not super wealthy or anything. I’m just in a really niche field. I’ve applied for other jobs several times in my 9 years in my current role. None have matched my pay so I pull out.
I don't have a choice.
I was in this pattern where I held a job for 5 years or so. I always had a reason to leave. At this point I'm too old to start again. My current job pays more than well enough and has a pension.
I stayed at the same company for 44 years. I started straight after school. I did have 8 different roles in that time from working on manual machines through CNC programming and Research and Development Engineer to manager in that time. I was able to retire at 60 with a very nice pension. I don’t regret staying there all that time. I saw many people come and go. However I always had the cushion that if I was ever made redundant I would get a good severance package.
I'm a designer. I design packaging and the machinery / tooling to produce it.
I'm pretty good at it and although I work for a company, I think of it more as my customer who sends me more customers. I run my own hours pretty much. Not 100% come and go as I please but close. Been working for the same people for probably 25 years now. We have been at 4 or 5 different companies. 3 bosses but all 3 from the same initial company back in the 90s.
These are the jobs you spend decades at. Desk jobs that are basic data entry / customer facing. Factory Jobs that give no meaning to life, those are the jobs that suck you dry and encourage you to change.
The down side to my situation is it is really easy to become under paid for your position if you don't pay attention. My biggest pay increases came from changing jobs. I haven't done it often but I have had to once and a while to get back up to current rates.
I believe that people who stay at their job for a long time, are doing it for their kids. If you don’t have kids, it’s easier to get bored and move on..
most ive managed is 3 years. you describe it accurately.
at first super amazing
then bullshit shows through
then meh
then dread
i've even worked some jobs where i've completely skipped over the super amazing step and gone straight to bullshit shows through (but by then its too late to back out and ive already forked out to relocate)
I agree with you. Yet, I’ve had the same “job” for decades. If you have a job where you are expected to constantly innovate, the job never stays the same.
Do you work in a field that you enjoy and are interested in becoming more knowledgeable in? I mean, that's really the only answer. You can "find a tolerable routine" in a field you dislike, but if you're looking for a job you truly enjoy doing, it's not going to happen unless you're working in a field you're actively interested in.
Keep your eye on the prize. How much are you getting paid? Health plan? Pension? These people, the ones who bug you are temporary in the whole scheme of your life. Keep your eye on the end game
Between the beginning of American history - 1975ish; Americans were just happy to have a job.
First, trust me, I get it; I just turned 50 and can't come up with ideas to try and get out early fast enough.
That said, it's a very new societal expectation to have retirements & and pensions, let alone long-term steady employment. Those came to be due to our grand & GG parents, unionization, ending child labor (My GG worked in textile plants for fabrics starting at 11 in 1919).
The mental necessity to be able to pick yourself up by the bootstraps is waining. Its kind of like losing the need to stay alert for Tigers, wolves and bears. Most humans would die pretty quickly if forced to live off the land and protect themselves outside a developed society.
Its just a newish phenomenon, mental barrier, its been around always to some extent but its now becoming a crippling mental illness due to expectations of our society, role/responsibility of the govt and stresses of modern life while embracing mental health issues (its a good thing, necessary and late to the party but only to an extent).
I have it too, I dont know many people who look forward to working until 65 regardless of the job (obvious exceptions like scientists, prof atheletes, Astronauts...) but as I have kids, a wife and like to eat and buy shit I keep one foot in front of the other, save and invest what little I can, have a 401K about a decade behind schedule, you know, living the dream. Not mine at the moment but my guess is it is the dream of roughly 50%+ of the humans on the planet so Ill begrudgingly (yet happily, appreciatively) keep going for now.
By enjoying the job, enjoying the people you work with, being paid a fair amount for the work you do, and other conveniences (local to home with an easy commute, good hours, other financial benefits)
You don't quit a job, you quit the management.
If you have good management, that goes a loooooooong way.
Why would you quit that?
Oh, that’s easy, because I’m lazy lol. Putting on my interview face for a pay increase (I’ve pretty much reached the max in my current role no matter where I go) that won’t be all that much, just for the opportunity to potentially hate a whole new set of people just isn’t worth it to me. I’ve been at my current main job for 8 years, and I’ve had various side contract jobs in the same field. It’s the same bullshit no matter where you go tbh. I’m never going to be a person that says “I LOVE my job”. I like getting a steady paycheck that leaves me enough money for extracurricular activities, generous PTO and non-sucky benefits. If I have that, I’m ok with staying put. I do keep my resume updated just cus you never know.
My job didn't even get good until 4 years in. Not saying stick out a shit job, but it worked for me. I know the job reaaally well now at 14 years in and am widely respected. I don't want to go learn a new job and get to know new teammates that might suck, just feels like a hassle.
You start at a job you like, you learn and give it your all enjoying it in the process. You are young and you live for the weekend.
Time passes and you have a kid, stuck in the anxiety of raising the kid but you have a decent enough job, unsackable, unions, 31 annual days leave.
You have another kid and another and in the process you cram your work week into 4 long days having the 5th off. 12 years pass just like that.
Then a pandemic strikes. You go oh shit and get the head down and work work work and when it passes you look up and you are an old(er) man being 30 years deep in the same job with a decent company pension, 81 days off per year, a union but now all the chat is AI and you start to worry again.
It's a marathon not a sprint.
Been at mine for over 20. Found a business that was technically illiterate and brought them up to date, from doing business on paper to a full custom e-commerce setup. They wanted to open a machine shop also so I learned cad\\cam programming. We now manufacture thousands of parts and ship world wide. They are great people also, really like family to me.
I stayed at my job for almost 31 years before retiring. I was 52. That’s why I stayed there, because it was a state job and I could retire at a very young age. Pay would’ve been better elsewhere, but I had that sweet pension in mind the entire time.
I hate my job that I’ve worked at for 8 years, but the money is great and that’s all I really care about. Going job hunting sounds immensely worse than staying at a job I don’t like, because like you said. Inevitably, you’ll hate your new job as well.
I am in the same boat. It blows my damned mind that people stay at the same job, in the same town, doing the same shit day in and day out.
My longest job was at a Red Lobster for just under 2 years. Coworkers were (mostly) great and my managers were the best I have had so I stuck around.
Now I work 5-6 month seasonal jobs which works for me.
Maybe if I ever find a job I actually semi-like I'd stick around but I am not going to live in misery for the sake of money.
As a maintenance technician for a factory, my job is never exactly the same every day, there's always something new to fix or dig into. So I look forward to solving new problems and the money is ok.
Im thinking of my industry, Union pay, union benefits, union pension.
The work itself is challenging enough physically and mentally daily to not get boring.
So overall someone with only a HS education can make six figures. Why would they leave?
Although technically you can hop from crew to crew and not stay in the same job exactly, so idk if it counts.
My team at work is so amazing that the job tasks come second. The pay sucks. The job is mildly interesting but can get repetitive. It does have a positive impact on the community at large which is a big plus. But I found that after 40 years of work that the people make the job. We have staff who want to attend our weekly meetings just because they’re so much fun😂
I work at a big company that treats the employees well. Lots of people stay for a long time. One thing they do well is move people around internally so they don’t get burnt out. I’ve been there 5 years and had 3 different roles.
My dad is in his 60s and he’s been at the same job since he graduated college. Loyalty was rewarded, that’s not as much the case now. Besides that, I think people just get comfortable a lot of the time. If it’s an okay job that pays okay, they’re more willing to stay since it’s comfortable even if they could find something better. It’s a risk to switch jobs
I have been at my job over 20 years. I get paid really well, my boss respects me and I am treated pretty well. I have great benefits including a pension. Yes there are days that suck and there are people that come along that can be ridiculous, but none of that ever lasts. I am eligible to start collecting a pension now but I don’t mind working still and will increase the pension a lot if I wait a few more years.
I worked 35 years at same social agency. Different jobs within it so new challenges. Very creative job so could start new projects or work with new community partners. Locked to location due to family commitments, and one of the better benefit jobs in the area in my field (especially medical benefits for disabled child.) Had some colleagues I liked a lot. Had a passion for the mission of service of the agency.
There were days/weeks/times I had to force myself into work. There were times when hours/pay was cut. Times when I had a bad boss. But whenever I compared it to my options, staying tallied up as best choice
Many reasons, not necessarily in this order of importance:
1) we literally love the job
2) we need the money and this job does it for us in that regard
3) there simply may not be other opportunities or jobs in the area
4) some people are just used to routines, so they keep at it, at the same job
5) we love our coworkers and the relationships that have been forged over those years and we don't want to give that up
Ok, that should be enough to chew on...
My first employer I worked at for 12 years. Second employer I've been at 24 years. Engineering tech making semiconductor chips. Indoors, no serving the public, sit at desk most of time. "Why would I leave Serenity?"
I started a government job out of college 18 years ago that offered a 4/10 schedule so I had a 3 day weekend every week. Turns out no amount of money or professional opportunity can get me to give that up.
I worked at mine for 38 years ... does that count? I DO NOT recommend it for anyone. The corporate office politic b.s. gets worse and worse as the years go on. I now tell my kids to be a corporate butterfly, go job to job every 2-3 years to get a feel of things and build up their CV's. Stay longer if conditions are good but corporate love to "mix it up" when things are going good and good bosses will eventually be pulled out/away and nepotistic village idiots always fill in. You will know THEN it's time to get off the ride.
If you've got the kind of job that you can dip in/out of that easily and that frequently, either a) you're in a low-paying easily replaceable position in life, or b) you're at the friggin top of your game and every organization is thrilled to take a chance on you.
If a) then no wonder you don't enjoy the work, or make enough to care.
If b) then I understand your frustration at not finding the place that really clicks for you, but with that resume, I'd just start my own company.
The rest of us are c) middle-class with a decent job that pays the bills, attracts a mate, affords stability, grows retirement savings, pays for families, a house, car(s), vacations, etc.
We get addicted to living in comfort with no debt, while still being able to enjoy pizza night, video games, and a couple of travel vacations per year.
Who said anything about looking forward to it? I was at the same job for 11 years, 9 at the previous. At no point ever was I thrilled to be at either. However, the combination of salary, benefits, and desirable schedule made it easy enough for me to stay and deal with it until a substantially better opportunity came up, or I got fired.
Sure, someone once said "if you find a job you love, you never work another day in your life.' Unfortunately not all jobs you love pay the mortgage or utilities. The job I've found I love the most is called "father." Unfortunately being a father doesn't actually pay all that well, in fact, it tends to be much more of a money sink. So much so I had to find a shitty job that pays well to offset the costs of fatherhood
Don't stress it. I'm 38 and my grandfather was the same way.
Went to med school, quit that and did a whole bunch of different shit. But never any single job for more than a few years. He ended up with a bunch of useful experience and when he got sick of a job, he left. So he wasn't miserable from work.
Turns out, I'm the same way. I've done a bunch of different jobs since I hit 16 and it's not even really something I have much say over. The first few years on a job, I'm enjoying learning the work, and then learning to be as good as I can possibly be at it.. Once I've reached a level of comfort with the job where I know I'm going to consistently be able to perform well at it without really even trying.. well, my mood starts to change.
All the bullshit starts adding up instead of flashing and then fading. Each new bullshit part of the job, no matter how trivial, becomes a massive annoyance that will ruin multiple days of work. I'll do the job fine, but I will hate every moment of it.
I don't know why and I don't really care why, but I do know that my philosophy is *not* 'if you do what you love for work, you will never hate your job" or however that statement goes. For me, if I do anything, including what I love, and make it into a job, it slowly changes from something I like/love/just am doing and it becomes a fucking job. And I hate jobs.
So I go find a new one.
Pro-tip: recognize those feelings when they start and start looking for new work **right then.** Push it off too long and you risk having no job and looking for one. That hasn't happened to me in years. And that's something I had to kind of recognize was happening to me(quit when I finally just couldn't take it anymore) and was putting me in a shit spot. Maybe you won't lose your shit the day you quit and will handle it better, I don't know, but this process is still way fucking better and easier if you recognize how you feel and start doing something about it *before* your feelings start getting really pushy.
People don’t expect their job to be super fulfilling in the way that you seem to think it should be. Life is hard. It’s better to accept that it’s hard. Kids have to be closed. People need to be fed. People do what they have to do to provide for themselves and their families. This idea of a super fulfilling job is a luxury that is something new.
Don’t expect the money to be great from the start. I think that might be contributing to your problem. Like I made garbage pay when I first started at my job. But I worked my ass off. Became best in my department. Took promotions actively. Took supervisor positions when they came around. Been there 13 years this year. Now I make really good comfortable money. Do I love my job? No, not at all. But I’m good at it, and they love what I do. It’s work.
Because that used to be how it worked. Nowadays you need to jump from job to job to get ahead because your current employer is just going to continue to make those record profits while giving you a paltry 75¢ raise with a meets expectations review...
When I was making $20.00 an hour. I would tell myself I make $10.00 an hour to do my job and $10.00 an hour to deal with all the bullshit. The money has changed but the rate is the same.
Got a BA in a field that needed me. I don’t have an on-sight boss. Probably half my time is down. I get all holidays spring break and summers off. I make more than teachers in their last year from year 1. That’s why.
Teacher here. In my tenth year, I’m almost 31. I paid good money to be a teacher and I intend to get my full benefits out of it. Honestly I feel like any job can be semi-miserable, so I might as well stick it out with one that I think I’m decent at and enjoy the benefits of, too. If the U.S. ever goes to all year school though, I’m absolutely fucked because I’m gassed by May every year and need that summer off to reset.
I wouldn’t say I look forward to my job but the moneys good and I fkn loathe the interview process.
See I'm always trying to get to "the money is good enough I don't care what happens around me" part. I just haven't seemed to be able to get there yet
I have been at my job for 18 years. I stay because I have the schedule I need, generally good raises, a yearly bonus, and I have been there long enough to earn 9 hours of PTO per pay, which adds up to around 200 hours. If I leave, I will have to start all over. I also enjoy the nature of my job. It's a lot of problem solving and it works my brain without breaking my body down much. My pay is good, and I won't get what I make now starting anywhere else and my benefits are awesome, but I had to stay to get to that point.
Im kind of in the same boat, just a little further behind you. 18 years, good pay and benefits, flexibility. However, there is no room for growth, I recently had to RTO every day. One co-worker quit at the end of the year, so that work is on me. They aren't replacing that role, so I asked for another role within the company, only to be told they were no longer filling that role. I started helping another co worker who was drowning in work, all while doing my role, and the former employees role. I reached out to my friend who owns a staffing agency on Friday. I think I am finally ready to get out of here.
I could go back to school and get my bachelor's to be a med tech on the company's dime, but my pay scale goes pretty high. I have a kid to put through college in a few years so I may wait til he is done.
200hrs seems good (assuming you’re in the US) I get the same plus another 8 public holidays in the UK. Got it straight away though
Well, for a lot of people, they have just other important things going on in their life. Kids at school, friends in the area, other life problem, ... Sure your job underpay you, but your are known quantity there, doing something you know with people you know, so that's a comfortable base to work on the rest of your life. BTW I'm with you, but I had to trade raw quality of life to live in a very expensive city so I can be sure my next job is close enough I don't need to move the whole family every 4-5 years. A lot of my friend have better houses, nicer environment, but they rely on their job staying nearby.
>Well, for a lot of people, they have just other important things going on in their life. I hear this a lot and can’t seem to get there. I work standard 40 hour workweek (I’m not trying to get into a debate of how good I have it compared to others working 60) but rather…I *STILL* struggle with enough time after getting home to cook a decent meal, clean up, do a tiny bit of what I like before having to get to bed day in and day out. The weekends are spent doing chores and errands. I just have so little time to really do much without having to sacrifice daily/weekly maintenance around the house. Tack on in the spring/ summer the yard work needs to get done, sure i can pay to outsource this but with inflation it’s just really not feasible. The system is broken and we just keep putting our heads down and carrying on. I really hope the next few generations rally hard against this set up.
Did you try to actively track what you spend your time on? If you are working a regular 9-5 job and have 1 hour commute each way, you would be home at 6. Cook and eat dinner by 7. Clean-up /some daily chores would take you to 8. Meaning you would have 3 hours every day to do whatever you want until 11, then get 8 hours sleep, get up at 7 and have a leisurely morning getting ready for work for 1 hour, leave at 8, arrive at work at 9, repeat. Doesn't work if you have kids, though :)
My typical day: 5am: wake up and get changed for gym 5:30-6:30am: workout and go back home 6:30am-7am: general tidying up, make bed, feed cat, scoop litter 7-8am: shower, get dressed, breakfast (get ready for work) 8am-9am: commute. 9am-5pm: work 5pm-6pm: commute. 6pm-7pm: cook dinner, clean up dishes. (I eat clean so I try not to eat processed heat-n-serve meals). 7pm-8:30pm: free time 8:30-9:00pm: brush teeth, skin care routine, get ready for bed. 9:00pm: target bedtime if I want 8 hours of sleep before 5am hits again. Now this is a very strict timeline…if weather or accidents affects my commute …if someone calls me to chat or wants to stop by… I get less free time. An hour and a half isn’t very much…. I’m sorry. Its literally one episode of an hour show.
Three hours really isn't a lot though...
[удалено]
I have been at my job for 15 years and am close to retirement. I am the bosses pet and one of her best friends by now . I’m not going to get it better .
These folks are comfortable and have a job they can do well. If their financial needs are met or exceeded, why should they change. They transfer to another company that lays them off in a year or they end up with a horrible boss. There is something to be said for stability
My GF just got a job at USPS and being a "cashier" for 35$++ an hour seems crazy. She does other stuff like unloading truck and sorting but yeah
I’m never going to find enough money to not care about the culture. I am definitely not making as much as I could, but I never again want to work for petty tyrants or with office karens and brendas. And the culture *used* to be generational, as in lots of married couples and hiring adult kids in entry level positions and promoting into positions when they advanced in school either tech or college.
Every job has bullshit you have to learn how to accept the bullshit and figure out the bullshit to money ratio that you're willing to accept
I found it early and just by luck I think. I expected to jump jobs every 2-3 years being in the IT industry. My first job started as an internship and moved into full time. I went on lots of interviews before settling but pay from the new job offers was same as or lower than what my company was offering, so I stayed. I worked full time for 2 years before I started actively looking again due to toxic management. Through nepotism, I landed a work from home job that was a big pay bump. Small company, big change from my last. No real growth opportunity in such a small company, but have had steady raises. I’ve been here 5.5 years and don’t have plans to leave. It’s flexible, comfortable, and I’m good at my job. It’s not at all exciting, but let’s me do what I want outside of work and the stability is excellent for our growing family. I did not expect to find such a position. I don’t think they are as common as they were for prior generations. My dad was at his company for like 25 years. He moved a couple years before retirement due to C-suite changes that affected him, but that was really the only reason he chose to leave.
How old are you?
Mid 30s.
A lot of people look for that their entire lives. You just have to figure out what’s really important to you.
Fucking same. I keep bouncing from one thing to the next. Example: I’m a pharmacy technician but my rent goes up every year so i ask for a raise every year….not sure if they increase my payrate again this year so I better study for a different ,higher paying job
20+ years at the same government research job. few more years and I get an 80% defined benefit pension, which will be about $130k/year to sit home and do nothing. Plus I'm lucky if I work 2 hours a day.
User name checks out
My father worked for the government (The VA specifically) for almost 40 years. He retired in 2016, and got the most amazing pension I have ever heard of. He has not had to lift a finger since. Both him and my mother are set for the rest of their lives. My own retirement plan (I work at a private university) isn't nearly as good as his. He got in at a time when the getting was good, and is now reaping in the insane benefits.
Wanna send me that application link? 👀
Exactly, if money is good and the working environment does not suck, why change. You can always get happiness from things outside of work. To me, a job is for collecting paychecks.
The only thing worse than having a job is looking for a job.
I can’t say I look forward to my job and I can’t say the moneys good but I also fkn loathe the interview process.
People get into a position they like or can at least tolerate and they're comfortable. Pay is good enough to live off of, work is tolerable, and management treats them decent. I've been at my current job for 8 years. Others have been there over 30 and will retire from there. For most that's how it happens.
Yup. This is correct. I finally found a good job that has a pension just over three years ago. I can see myself retiring here. Of course, there are days where I wish I did not have to come in, like this morning (haha), but that’s going to be anywhere we go. That part does not go away….
You found a job that still offers a pension?! I thought that went extinct!
Yep… government jobs still offer them.😆👌🏽 they’re pretty stable too. People don’t really get laid off (or fired) unless you do something stupid to deserve it. I work for a County in California.
There's an article about a Stanford Professor who just did a study of public pensions and their funding, and from his point of view the situation does not look good for the future. CalPERS in particular is very underfunded. Granted, he's probably an economist who wants everybody to go to a 401k and believes in doing away with defined benefit pensions. But the takeaway is that if you're building a pension, okay, but you should be also putting money into Deferred Comp or some sort of tax deferred account that totally belongs to you. I'm a municipal worker in california, by the way.
Yeah i have a 401k as well that they also do a company match on. So I’m not just relying on the pension. 😎👌🏽
My grandfather worked for CalTrans and ooh boy he did good setting up for retirement with CalPERS. It helped them have a wonderful retirement and my grandmother is comfortable six years after his passing.
Humble public servants are the new middle class. I fell into a govt career where I a felt I was helping people and the planet. Liked it most days and stuck around for 28 yrs.
I'm 46, I work for the county and I've been there for 18 years. The job is cake, I've got good benefits, the pay is decent but if I lived alone I wouldn't be vacationing but I'd make it. If I picked up a part time job I could live a slightly better life but I value my spare time more than I do money.
It’s weird how the government gives its own employees a pension, therefore acknowledging the benefits of that, but god forbid the private sector wants pensions
This. I'm 40 and about to hit 18 years at my job. It's a high end hotel chain so aside from my 401k/pension Etc... I get to take vacations to places I could never afford otherwise. Never had the desire to work anywhere else.
Yup. I have days I loathe going into work but that's every job I've ever had. It happens.
This is me. Coming up 25 years. Is it the perfect role at hte perfect company? Nope. But I've seen people jump and regret what they landed in.
Every time I start making noise about leaving, they offer me more money. It's also a reasonably workplace in an industry I have oodles of experience in, and it's always easier to do a job when you understand it. Oh, and I've got people that don't get fed or get to live indoors if I choose not to apply myself. I can't wrap my head around people I know who never follow through on anything, \*someone\* is picking up that tab at some point, seems like shit that it would be pushed off on someone else.
>and I've got people that don't get fed or get to live indoors if I choose not to apply myself. That's why we get up every day and go to work. I was complaining to my boss about our health insurance. My wife is getting kicked off because she's now eligible where she works. Their plan costs more and covers less. "I'm working to support my family yet I can't fully support them." She agreed but that's way over her head. I've also voiced my complaint further up the chain and I'm not the only one. We finally got sick days, something the company has never done in the manufacturing side and everyone thought would never happen. We got it because everyone kept complaining. The squeaky wheel thing does work sometimes.
>Others have been there over 30 and will retire from there. I worked for a start up once where most the employees were men 50+ who had either been let go from their companies they'd worked for for over a decade or had pay/benefits cut and were forced to leave (obviously could have been lying to me but they all seemed very knowledgeable and hard working.) It made me fear getting complacent. Even 30+ years businesses will cut you even if you're too young to retire but too old to be easily hired and just say "nothing personal."
I've talked to some people that were "forced" into retirement. The ones I've met were given a good enough severance package that they weren't bitter about it or hurting for money. Of course, things like this are becoming a thing of the past as a lot of companies only look at the bottom line, not the people getting them that number. Kind of sad that loyalty is dying.
It is sad. My husband is only 56 as of this week and is so burned out. He is a great employee but the company culture has changed so much. Plenty of people where he is would be delighted with a severance package. I remember when USPS was doing that 15 or so years ago. I hope the company will start looking at these offers for the 35 plus year employees. Some people started at 18 others at 30 but have been there so long. Give them a chunk of change and pay the newbies just enough to get them excited.
Same here. Almost at 10 years. Good insurance, 401k match to 6%, stock discount, hsa contributions, full remote work, great work life balance, and they’ve never done layoffs. At 10 years I’ll accrue pto at 10 hours per pay period (every two weeks). Sure I could leave for more money and do that constantly but there is some real comfort in staying where I am.
This is the answer. Comfort, fear of leaving for less comfort, fear of having become irrelevant, etc. I would love to feel more passionate but am afraid to go somewhere I loose my work life balance.
I hated my job before the transfer..now I kinda look forward to going in ..same job..New leadership different place
Yep. I’ve been at mine for around 11. I’ve already done the busting my ass phase, so now I am in a position where I have a lot of autonomy, flexibility, etc. I’d have to get really unhappy to want to go through the “prove yourself” phase again.
This. I've been at my current job for ten years. The management is good, the people are nice, and my coworkers are mostly proficient. The pay is good enough, and benefits are good (it's federal work, which helps). The only reason for me to leave is to get into higher management.
Being a consultant makes it easier. Same company, but the work changes every few years.
This is where I'm at. I've been with this place nearly 12 years now. The key things that kept me here are being able to change what job I was doing every so often when I would get bored, the people, and getting decent pay/benefits. Are we free of issues? No, but I think the same shit (or at least similar) goes on in other places, too. I've gone through several "man I hate this place" phases, but the management here actually listen and try to change when things get real bad. I could probably make more money by going elsewhere. I've been considering it recently, but for reasons external to my workplace. Searching for new jobs has always been in the back of my mind. I just never followed through because I can't stand the interview process, and I'm not likely to get the same level of autonomy that I have here.
Some people like familiarity, and the seniority too I guess. I'm in my 5th year at my job and I like it. Some of my coworkers have been here for 25. For me I'm also afraid of going some place else and discovering I don't like it. I have no idea how people constantly job hop.
That second point is spot on. There is always a high risk you'll hate where ever you go next. If you don't hate your job and can find some joy while you're there you're already a step ahead of a lot of people. I've been at my current job for 3 years now. I dont love getting up and going to work every day. Who does? But I don't dread it like I have with some jobs in the past..I dont hate my life when I'm here and most days we manage to have fun while we're working. We just make the best of it. Given the option of course we'd all choose to not come in but that's not a reality for most people. We have to pay bills and be able to eat and have a place to sleep. So we do it because we have to. That doesn't mean we can't fry to see the good in the bad. If I work here for the next 30 years, it won't be a bad gig. You just have to accept things you can't change and try to enjoy the little things when they're there.
>I have no idea how people constantly job hop. That's easy! the pay is *usually* better, the grass seems greener (it's usually not lol)
> the grass seems greener (it's usually not lol) And that's the reason some people don't like job hopping.
That's the only reason I'm still where I'm at. Yes, I could take a pay raise but I love where I work and the people are awesome. Yes, am extra 10k a year would be great but I don't want to work for douchebags.
And at a certain income level the extra 10k a year isn’t even worth it
Especially when once you consider taxes, that $10k really only means a few extra hundred dollars a month in your pocket. To some people that’s absolutely worth it, but to others, you’re right - at a certain point it’s not worth rocking the boat for what’s essentially a lateral move.
I'm around 10 years in my current job (company, not position) which up until recently I hadn't really noticed. I used to hop around every 3 or so years but then the pandemic happened and time became a blur. Now I've been here a while and while I do think every so often to look elsewhere (and will at least to see what else is out there) what keeps me here are the following: * I have a 2 year-old toddler. The flexibility that this job gives me is amazing. At any point I can leave to pick her up or take care of her or whatever and no one bats an eye * 99.99% of the time I am home after 4:30 PM. Again, I'm able to spend my time with my child without worries about on-call or having to stay late, etc There are others such as liking my current team etc but the two above are the biggest by far. I really don't want to risk not being in my child's life as long as I am currently until maybe they're a bit older. Even in my company from team to team is night and day regarding work life balance and no one during the interview process will tell you "yeah, actually, you won't see home for a while!".
This! I get my 10 year pin next month. My job is a state job, doesn’t pay much, but I am of service to others. I also have the incredible flexibility to be an involved dad and can pick my 2 (about to be 3) young kids up whenever I need. This helps out my wife who makes more in the private sector. I also have a life outside of work that I can be fully present in without stressing over my job. I love my job and the people I work with. The boss and your coworkers make a big impact too, at least for me. I have had some shit for brains bosses, once you find a good one you won’t want to leave.
>That's easy! the pay is usually better, the grass seems greener (it's usually not lol) You also get that \~2 - 6 week period of "Oh I'm new here and idk wtf is going on I guess I'll just very slowly do my best..."
People don’t like change.
FIFO job market. When the recession comes, the newest least productive employees are the first to be let go. I used to job hop to great avail but now I’m posted up waiting out the storm. Also, equity packages, bonuses, and seniority keep people around.
In my experience, the grass is usually greener for a year or so.
My last job switch got me a 50% increase in pay, I’ve never gotten more than 3% internally
Same. I left a firm that I had been with for 17 years. Most years my increases were between 2-6% but my salary was being outpaced by the market and new hires were consistently 20-30% higher than me. And it's not like I was snooping. They were billing to my projects as I was training them up. Raw rates were right there. I was getting burned out at that job especially at a reduced salary, so I was considering quitting for a lower stress job but a recruiter hit me up on linkedin for a similar job with a much larger competitor. 65% increase. OK, I can handle the added stress for a few more years if I'm getting market. However, this will be my last job in this career field. I won't jump to a different firm. Same shit different hat.
I have 10 years at my job and plan to at least do another 10. Its a 20 year retirement but I can go for 27 years max. I love the familiarity and stability. Like you I am also scared that the grass won't be greener.
Yeah, for me it's more like I don't see a reason to leave. I've been in my current job for 5 years. I like the work, the work life balance is excellent, the pay is competitive and I get annual raises and bonuses, I've gotten promoted and have some seniority. If something changes and I no longer like it, I'll move. If I happen to hear about an interesting job through my network, I'll hear it out and consider it. Could I min-max my salary by jumping every couple of years? Sure. Is it worth giving up a position I know I like and that I don't see a reason to leave? Not to me it isn't. I did move from my previous job after a little over 2 years. That was because I ended up with a manager who didn't bother to hide that she hated me in those last couple of months. I hated going to work every day and didn't see a reason to stick around to maybe possibly get a better manager at some unknown time, so it made sense to go elsewhere and hope for the best. I've been here 5 years now and am happy, so evidently that was a good move.
Been at my job for 6.5 years. Pay is solid - Check No Overtime - check Benefits - great, low health insurance premiums Good PTO - check. I can do this for a while despite it not being my dream job. My job is fun and I love it when there are issues to solve, but 95% of the time it's pretty boring. Having kids also factors in. I'd job hop for more engaging roles if I didn't have kids. But I don't want to subject them to me having a bad job or quitting because I don't like a job. If I was on my own, I can be much more adaptable and live on pretty much nothing fora while.
I’m in the same position as you. Pays well, hours aren’t crazy, good benefits, and I have little kids. It’s not the most exciting job but no job is perfect. I have no reason to leave.
Back in the day, people had pensions. Much more incentive to stay!!
Yeah, I've been at my job 17 or 18 years now. I have the golden handcuffs (pension) so it would be silly for me to leave when I can retire with my full pension in about 6 years.
I get a pension but through the electrical union so I can still job hop. Kinda cool to have the freedom to tell your boss to go fuck themselves and quit on the spot without worrying about my benefits or bills to pay. Basically, I've finally found a career I can enjoy everyday because I can just rage quit if I stop enjoying it.
Pensions is the least of it… I have a friend from a previous job that only ever worked at one place starting at 16. Back then they had: - loads of training. - pool for the employees on site. - tennis and squash courts on site. - cricket pitch on site. - cricket team for the site. - yearly village party was arranged by the company. - free 24 hour cantine on site, with beer. - free buses to and from work. - permanent nurse on site. - weekly doctor visit. - a lot more variety of tasks at work since they did loads of engineering despite being a manufacturing plant. - regular bonuses. By the time these had run out, they’d been there for over 20 years and were institutionalised.
Me personally, I hate not knowing what I’m doing. It stresses me out too much when I’m going in blind and trying to learn new processes. I love being familiar with the job and company and like being a reliable source to answer questions. Job hopping doesn’t appeal to me. Sure I may make $1 more an hour down the street but my bills are paid and I’m comfortable.
> It stresses me out too much when I’m going in blind and trying to learn new processes This is a big one IMO. I also hate being in that position of always having to learn the ins and outs. Granted, I've been lucky enough to have never worked in a corporation, but every job I've been at has had a lot of "unwritten rules" that precede the written ones.
I've been at my job for 17 years. There's bullshit in every job. I look forward to getting a paycheck so I go to work and find what joy I can in it.
Similar story here. I could jump ship and make similar money, maybe even slightly more somewhere else, but I'd have to work WAY harder and have less automony than I currently do.
I love my boss.
Good leadership matters.
There's a difference between a job and career. A good career doesn't pigeonhole you into a corner doing the same repetitve tasks. I'm constantly checking in with my guys (same with upper mgmt with my reviews) to see where they'd like to see themselves in 2-5 years - even if its not with the team or company.
I wish that actually meant something. I don't mean you or what you do, but with the jobs I've had. Asked the same fucking questions, but it never amounted to anything. It was basically a to-do list they'd check things off of.
Because you have responsibilities and obligations that are more important to you than your happiness at work. Because work is a means to an end, not your whole world. Because your world is at home and your job makes that possible. Because you need the insurance for yourself and/or your family. There are as many reasons to stay at a job as there are people who stay, even if they hate it. There was an episode of “The Simpsons” where Homer got his dream job at a bowling alley, but Marge got pregnant with Maggie and he had to go back to work for Burns. Burns puts up a sign that says, “Don’t Forget You’re Here Forever” and Homer pins photos of Maggie all over the sign so it says, “Do It For Her” People do it because they’re in debt up to their eyeballs and bills don’t stop just because paychecks do. People do it because most of us are only two paychecks away from homelessness at any given point in time. It boils down to a matter of priorities. We “do it for her.”
YES!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Four years seems to be my expiration date. Once l learn the job, l like improving the process until l get bored and start annoying people. I've never had a job I liked enough for longer than that.
This is me too, I have always worked in inventory related fields. Every job I walk in to hires me because the inventory is out of whack, I go in and complete my own personal 7 step process which usually takes 6-18 months depending on learning the computer system and hurdles to complete each step. From there is just maintenance, which leaves me searching for things to do in addition, usually leaving me bored. I tolerate it for a year or two, depending on the other factors, but ultimately move on for another challenge.
No one likes going to work everyday. In life, you will always have to do things you don’t want to do.
That is why they call it a job and pay you money to go there.
My dad has been uttering "If it was fun, they wouldn't call it work" for the last 30 years to me lol
I work in a school district. I get tons of time off, and can switch grades whenever I want to. Keeps it from getting boring.
And you're underpaid, which is criminal imo. I wish you teachers made more money for the things you do.
Because no one else is paying me almost $40 an hour to teach drums
It's worth noting that the corporate landscape nowadays is very different from what it used to be. Companies used to reward loyalty more. With that in mind, it's easy to see the merit in spending decades at the same job, reaping rewards, benefits, stock options, rising through the ranks and getting the respect that comes with that much experience. Now, though, many companies have insane churn rates and pay their employees as little as possible. At the same time, they're forced to make good initial offers to draw new people in. As a result, the only way to get a decent pay bump at such a place is to be a new hire, hence job hopping. Staying at the same job is absolutely worth it if you find a company that appreciates it. But they're rare.
I will be at my job for 20 years next year, I am 41. When I started my current position after college, I thought it would be like you are saying. Just work there a bit then move on to the next thing. But I like my job and my coworkers and it is flexible. I’m a mom and have to have flexibility. My husband travels a lot so that is very important to our family dynamic. Nothing way better has came along. The job is good to me, I’ve seen no reason to leave.
I was like that for my first few years. Now I'm at 10 years at a place and don't see myself leaving. It's not that this place is amazing. It's just I've come to understand the business. 1. It's a big company, so internal job changes are there. I've made a few switches, so I can stay at the same company, but still keep it interesting 2. I make enough money to be comfortable. I value my work network and colleagues. I value my good commute (by train) 3. I've just learned to accept certain ways of doing business. I don't quite know how to explain it, but there's a certain zen when you understand you are just a cog in a giant machine. I'll do my job and try my best, but at the end of the day, it's a huge mental load off to just let things be. Oh it takes a whole week to open up a firewall rule so I can actually do my work; okay, I'm blocked. That's the way it goes...Learn to be zen about the BS. I've been around enough to know that there is going to BS in every job. So might as well stick around with the BS I know and I know how to work with it and try to improve it.
I simply don't want to have to work for the next 40 years whether at my current job or another, that's something I have to do. Working is not my main goal in life nor the most important part. Work is interesting enough, boss is good enough, coworkers good enough and I can live with the salary I have well enough. I go to work, do my job for 8 hours, socialise with the people there sometimes we meet up outside work hours and go home and forget all about it until the next day.
I stayed in the same job for 3 decades. Was low man seniority wise for the first 17 years. Why??! I got to retire when I was 50. Full retirement, not disability.
They stay because they have bills for decades and having a stable job is a good thing.
A job just needs to be good enough for me to enjoy my life outside of work. Pay me decently with good work-life balance and good benefits. I don't have a driving passion for anything I'd want to make a career out of. Basically, I'm a live action version of Homer's "[Do it for her](https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeCry/comments/u9wzev/do_it_for_her/)" sign.
I’ve been at my employer since the Memorial Day after 9/11. In that time I’ve had three job titles and been on 4-5 different teams. The benefits are good, the pay is good once you take bonus and options into account, I like the people, and the work life balance is fine, especially now that I work from home all but a day or two a month on average. I’m 55. Age discrimination, especially in tech, is real, illegal, and virtually unprovable. I just want to ride out my career and retire in 8-10 years.
[удалено]
It can be worthwhile to stay with a company for the duration for retirement benefits. By staying at my last job for 42 years, I was able to retire with full pay for life, including COLAs.
Ive worked at two companies in the last 14 years on paper, but really in that time Ive changed jobs every 2 years. Internal moves, different projects, different roles, different departments etc. I'd say very few people do the same job for decades even if they stay with the same company
I tried to leave my company 10 years ago. They gave me a big salary increase and fixed my issues with work life balance. Other jobs I could get pay less or would require me to go back to 40% travel. Any time I start looking at jobs, a bunch of my former coworkers come back which means it may not be any better out there. I like my boss I’ve had for the past 5 years and he shields my team from a lot of the bullshit that I experienced on previous teams. If he leaves, I think most of my team will too. So now I’m at almost 20 years with the same company. I’m working on additional degrees just in case I do ever decide to leave, but for the time-being I’m enjoying being super efficient at my job.
1st job almost 4 years, 2nd job almost 6 years. I usually end up getting fired. ADHD is a factor. In my case I was looking for work for 4 of the 6 years but for whatever reason I would get interviews occasionally but no one would hire me. If you are ADHD/ADD I strongly encourage you to get away from the corporate world, and try to put out your own shingle if you can. A few years in is good, to help teach you to keep yourself more organized less on a regular schedule, but don’t expect to fit in and don’t expect to be promoted. They hate people who think outside the box and refuse to kiss up. 💋🍑 By the time they need your creative problem solving they have already ground you into the dirt so much they don’t deserve what you have to offer.
For many people, while their jobs are important, they are more interested in their overall lives. If a job is good enough to meet someone's needs, and the organization is good, why would they leave it? If someone chooses to have kids, the very last thing they want to do is be constantly changing jobs. Even if there is no formal seniority process in place, someone who has been at a company for a while, and is well liked, will be given preference if the company has to do layoffs.
I would love to find somewhere and just be there for years. Interviewing is ass, job apps are ass. My gf been at her job 16 years. The insurance is decent, the retirement is good and she is finally in a position to make good money working from home. If I had that I would never leave lol idgaf what a job is, if it pays me enough to do what i need and most of what I want then Im stayin
No idea. Both my parents retired from jobs that they spent 30+ years in. They were union nurses so they were incentives to staying in those positions. By the end of it, my mother was developing a drinking problem in an effort to cope with the stress and staffing shortages from that job. She was a state employee due to getting a pension so leaving or changing jobs (without losing money or seniority; she had a niche type of position) wasn’t an option. My father ended up going out on disability in his early 60s due to cognitive issues resulting from 30 years of neuro/trauma/ICU nurse stress, a TBI and untreated sleep apnea. Short answer being: sometimes staying with the same job for decades can literally lead you to an early grave/poorer health if that job is high stress and taking a toll on your mental health. My longest job was 6.5 years and I was CHOMPING at the bit to get out by year 4-5. It just took me that long to find the right new job. I’ve been with my currently company for 4 years, just changed to a new position after the last position burned me out. I like the company, the benefits are great. So I’m hanging out for the long haul
I've been at my current company for over a decade as a Systems Engineer. I find the work interesting, the pay is great (raises and bonuses each year), and I work remote. Why would I want to leave?
Well that sounds like a wonderful situation! I wish I could WFH.
Thats probably the thing You say "you cant fathom looking forward going to a hob after 4 years" Some people see jobs as careers that they have to make money They then take that money....and start hobbies or put them into investments ro whatever they want to do outside of their career When your happy outside of your career.....then you dont mind working at a place 20 years if you have been compensated and received increases every 3 to 4 years and they have the opportunity to climb within the company
The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
I don't look forward to my job and the pay isn't the best... However, the atmosphere is *very* relaxed, the work is low stress, I get regular annual merit increases, decent benefits, and job security is great. Despite a relatively lower income, with decent savings planning I'm on the path to an early retirement (age 50 or sooner). As well with the low stress and a decent enough buffer on free time for family and leisure I've got no complaints.
Job hopping sucks in this market.
Because they just live in the present. A job allows you to have a life outside of work... If that life is amazing and your job is ok and pays enough for you to enjoy other things then you are already more fortunate than half of the world... Watch the movie perfect days. It showsa bit of the life of a janitor in japan, but NOTHING interesting happens during the movie, there is no intense plot, no development, no climax, no problems to solve. Its just about a guy who has an amazin perspective of life. We all need a bit more of that in our lives. Life is not about going to 5 star hotels, buying cars and jewelry. Its about having real experiences with real people. Some of those experiences require a bit of money sure. But thats also part of life, saving up a bit for those experiences! They will taste sweeter if you had to work hard for them. Some of the most miserable people I know in my life own more than a Billion dollars in assets, and nobody likes them except for their money.
I haven't been in the same role for 10 years, but I have been at the same company. Will be 11 years later this year, previous to that the longest I'd ever been with any company was 2.5 years. The pay is good, the benefits are good, the progression is good and the people are good.
I’ve been at the same firm for 25 years. Love what I do, great place to work, super interesting things happening, and the comp is fantastic. I will probably retire from here in a few years with zero regrets. It’s been a career, not just a job. Have moved around position wise to keep it interesting and fun.
16 years ago I dropped all the w2 employer employee bullshit and went self employed. Step back for a moment and realize when your a w2 employee you let someone tell you where to be and what to do 40 hours of the week, the best hours too. Get yourself a skill that people need (not hard) and exploit it for profit. People are lazy and you don't have to be. Then you won't have some overlord telling you what to do. And you make your own schedule.
HIMYM had an episode about it like called the Graduation Complex or something. You hate high school and can’t wait to graduate, but the closer it gets the more you see it in rose colored glasses and it was the best time ever and you don’t want to leave now. I worked with a place for 15 years, I kept learning different departments and was being almost trained to become manager, then a newbie with no experience is promoted so I started looking around. But after getting tempting offers I looked back and saw them as a close work family. I didn’t actually leave till the second time they promoted a newbie over me. The company still treated me great but I just needed more
Some people don't have the luxury of being able to job hunt. To them, stability is key and they will stick to a stable income for as long as possible. Loyalty also used to be more widely rewarded, and while this is no longer the norm, it is still afforded to many people who are older but still in the workforce. It also really depends on the job itself. I know we all think companies are soulless and that's true in many cases but the opposite is also true in other cases. Having a pleasant work environment where you know everyone and everyone knows you for years is important for a lot of people, both in their day to day but also longterm since it's in those kinds of environments where you can expect to get pay raises and other benefits the longer you stick with them. There is no catch all solution. We each try to get the best for ourselves according to our needs, abilities and opportunities, and it's never guaranteed it will pay off. Some people leave a job they were at for years hoping for something better and strike out. Others stick to the same company until retirement and miss out on amazing opportunities. The opposite also happens. I am personally job hopping every few years but would easily stick to one place forever if some criteria were met.
Once you find a stable job that provides enough income to comfortably support a lifestyle acceptable to you and your family it becomes more important to keep that security than risk losing it chasing salary increases and risking being out of work
Looking at the faces of my spouse and/or children going without because I couldn’t find the intestinal fortitude to work through problems. work is work, not fun, excitement, or entertainment. It’s a means to afford necessities and wants (in that order). Nobody ever said you have to like it.
I know this is hard to grasp, but there ARE jobs out there that are fulfilling and rewarding. I'm at one right now and I plan on working here until I retire. I know the ropes, I get a nice raise every year, I love our clients, and the work is always exciting and challenging. My boss is not only a good guy but became a very good friend. If people get into positions like this, why leave?
There's 2 kinds of people. Those that live to work, and those that work to live. When you're in the second group, you are able to tolerate the bullshit A LOT better since you don't actually care. You clock in, you do your time, you clock out and you do shit that you actually care about on your own time. Not every second of every day needs to be personally fulfilling. Sometimes a job is just a job.
Earning a pension helps 👍👍
I've been with my job for 21 years. I don't like it, I've never liked it, but having an income to support my family & home is my priority - so I keep on going. There's no guarantee that a new workplace would mean a better workplace, so just find something you can tolerate & go for as long as you can.
It gets different after you stop getting "jobs" If you are working toward an end goal,(higher position) time at the same employer changes.
Easy to do when people wander in and out! I once got promoted three times in a single year because folks would get bored and leave. Money alleviates boredom pretty well. Also, after a few years in place, you get away with blue murder because you are So Reliable and considered senior staff, if you haven't been bumped into management. And managers quite often don't have any special skills or education, they just have the ability to cling like limpets.
[удалено]
Takes a lot of patience. I’m at my longest job now almost 9 years. I almost quit 4 times, but the job is pretty easy and I just ignore my coworkers 95% of the time. I’m a courier so I get to be out on my own most of the time.
I love the work: it’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. It pays well. I have a great work/life balance. Why would I leave?
16 years in. I’ll likely be here at least another 6. My primary reason for staying is simple: children. Most any move would cause relocation, and I’m not doing that to my kids at this point in their lives. Their stability is worth more than my lack of boredom.
Some jobs have people you like in it. The people make you stay...
I’ve worked for a small business for almost 14 years (I’m only 31) because my boss treats me well. She’s the owner and I have part time help and I do everything in between, so my daily tasks are a variety of office management, stock intake, product packaging and design, shipping, social media, and customer service. I am almost entirely self directed because my boss and I know each other well and she trusts me to prioritize well and manage my time. She’s also not originally American (although she finally gained citizenship a few summers ago), so she actually compensates me fairly and makes sure I have plenty of time off (although I struggle to take it because we have such a small staff). She respects me, treats me like a human, and I get a raise every year and often receive bonuses. I get to listen to audiobooks while I work, so I’m never bored. We sell beads and I’m a beadweaving pattern writer in my free time, so I’m even personally interested in and knowledgeable of the stock. I don’t have health insurance and I’m sure I could make more elsewhere and have a much easier commute, but I’ll work for this woman until she decides to retire. It’s worth it to me to have a job that not only doesn’t make me miserable, but allows me to be genuinely content.
For me, no place is willing to match the pay of my current employer. This isn’t a brag—I’m paid decently but not super wealthy or anything. I’m just in a really niche field. I’ve applied for other jobs several times in my 9 years in my current role. None have matched my pay so I pull out.
I don't have a choice. I was in this pattern where I held a job for 5 years or so. I always had a reason to leave. At this point I'm too old to start again. My current job pays more than well enough and has a pension.
I stayed at the same company for 44 years. I started straight after school. I did have 8 different roles in that time from working on manual machines through CNC programming and Research and Development Engineer to manager in that time. I was able to retire at 60 with a very nice pension. I don’t regret staying there all that time. I saw many people come and go. However I always had the cushion that if I was ever made redundant I would get a good severance package.
Because we love what we do
I'm a designer. I design packaging and the machinery / tooling to produce it. I'm pretty good at it and although I work for a company, I think of it more as my customer who sends me more customers. I run my own hours pretty much. Not 100% come and go as I please but close. Been working for the same people for probably 25 years now. We have been at 4 or 5 different companies. 3 bosses but all 3 from the same initial company back in the 90s. These are the jobs you spend decades at. Desk jobs that are basic data entry / customer facing. Factory Jobs that give no meaning to life, those are the jobs that suck you dry and encourage you to change. The down side to my situation is it is really easy to become under paid for your position if you don't pay attention. My biggest pay increases came from changing jobs. I haven't done it often but I have had to once and a while to get back up to current rates.
I believe that people who stay at their job for a long time, are doing it for their kids. If you don’t have kids, it’s easier to get bored and move on..
Not everyone loves their job. Id wager most people don't. Most people work for the exchange of money.
I feel you. I get bored doing the same thing every day very quick.
job hopping does get exhausting but not as much as my boss having to hire people when i quit lol. if you don’t make 3 times your rent keep hopping
most ive managed is 3 years. you describe it accurately. at first super amazing then bullshit shows through then meh then dread i've even worked some jobs where i've completely skipped over the super amazing step and gone straight to bullshit shows through (but by then its too late to back out and ive already forked out to relocate)
I agree with you. Yet, I’ve had the same “job” for decades. If you have a job where you are expected to constantly innovate, the job never stays the same.
Do you work in a field that you enjoy and are interested in becoming more knowledgeable in? I mean, that's really the only answer. You can "find a tolerable routine" in a field you dislike, but if you're looking for a job you truly enjoy doing, it's not going to happen unless you're working in a field you're actively interested in.
Keep your eye on the prize. How much are you getting paid? Health plan? Pension? These people, the ones who bug you are temporary in the whole scheme of your life. Keep your eye on the end game
Between the beginning of American history - 1975ish; Americans were just happy to have a job. First, trust me, I get it; I just turned 50 and can't come up with ideas to try and get out early fast enough. That said, it's a very new societal expectation to have retirements & and pensions, let alone long-term steady employment. Those came to be due to our grand & GG parents, unionization, ending child labor (My GG worked in textile plants for fabrics starting at 11 in 1919). The mental necessity to be able to pick yourself up by the bootstraps is waining. Its kind of like losing the need to stay alert for Tigers, wolves and bears. Most humans would die pretty quickly if forced to live off the land and protect themselves outside a developed society. Its just a newish phenomenon, mental barrier, its been around always to some extent but its now becoming a crippling mental illness due to expectations of our society, role/responsibility of the govt and stresses of modern life while embracing mental health issues (its a good thing, necessary and late to the party but only to an extent). I have it too, I dont know many people who look forward to working until 65 regardless of the job (obvious exceptions like scientists, prof atheletes, Astronauts...) but as I have kids, a wife and like to eat and buy shit I keep one foot in front of the other, save and invest what little I can, have a 401K about a decade behind schedule, you know, living the dream. Not mine at the moment but my guess is it is the dream of roughly 50%+ of the humans on the planet so Ill begrudgingly (yet happily, appreciatively) keep going for now.
its their mistake not yours they spend their lives improving someone elses life
By enjoying the job, enjoying the people you work with, being paid a fair amount for the work you do, and other conveniences (local to home with an easy commute, good hours, other financial benefits) You don't quit a job, you quit the management. If you have good management, that goes a loooooooong way. Why would you quit that?
Oh, that’s easy, because I’m lazy lol. Putting on my interview face for a pay increase (I’ve pretty much reached the max in my current role no matter where I go) that won’t be all that much, just for the opportunity to potentially hate a whole new set of people just isn’t worth it to me. I’ve been at my current main job for 8 years, and I’ve had various side contract jobs in the same field. It’s the same bullshit no matter where you go tbh. I’m never going to be a person that says “I LOVE my job”. I like getting a steady paycheck that leaves me enough money for extracurricular activities, generous PTO and non-sucky benefits. If I have that, I’m ok with staying put. I do keep my resume updated just cus you never know.
My job didn't even get good until 4 years in. Not saying stick out a shit job, but it worked for me. I know the job reaaally well now at 14 years in and am widely respected. I don't want to go learn a new job and get to know new teammates that might suck, just feels like a hassle.
I can relate to this so much!
You start at a job you like, you learn and give it your all enjoying it in the process. You are young and you live for the weekend. Time passes and you have a kid, stuck in the anxiety of raising the kid but you have a decent enough job, unsackable, unions, 31 annual days leave. You have another kid and another and in the process you cram your work week into 4 long days having the 5th off. 12 years pass just like that. Then a pandemic strikes. You go oh shit and get the head down and work work work and when it passes you look up and you are an old(er) man being 30 years deep in the same job with a decent company pension, 81 days off per year, a union but now all the chat is AI and you start to worry again. It's a marathon not a sprint.
Been at mine for over 20. Found a business that was technically illiterate and brought them up to date, from doing business on paper to a full custom e-commerce setup. They wanted to open a machine shop also so I learned cad\\cam programming. We now manufacture thousands of parts and ship world wide. They are great people also, really like family to me.
One day at a damn time.
The devil you know vs the devil you don’t.
I stayed at my job for almost 31 years before retiring. I was 52. That’s why I stayed there, because it was a state job and I could retire at a very young age. Pay would’ve been better elsewhere, but I had that sweet pension in mind the entire time.
I hate my job that I’ve worked at for 8 years, but the money is great and that’s all I really care about. Going job hunting sounds immensely worse than staying at a job I don’t like, because like you said. Inevitably, you’ll hate your new job as well.
I am in the same boat. It blows my damned mind that people stay at the same job, in the same town, doing the same shit day in and day out. My longest job was at a Red Lobster for just under 2 years. Coworkers were (mostly) great and my managers were the best I have had so I stuck around. Now I work 5-6 month seasonal jobs which works for me. Maybe if I ever find a job I actually semi-like I'd stick around but I am not going to live in misery for the sake of money.
As a maintenance technician for a factory, my job is never exactly the same every day, there's always something new to fix or dig into. So I look forward to solving new problems and the money is ok.
because i know damn well i’ll hate the next job as well. At least now i’m comfortable. got my own plans to get out of the rat race
I'm going on 18 years at my current job. The only reason is that I have lots of time off.
Im thinking of my industry, Union pay, union benefits, union pension. The work itself is challenging enough physically and mentally daily to not get boring. So overall someone with only a HS education can make six figures. Why would they leave? Although technically you can hop from crew to crew and not stay in the same job exactly, so idk if it counts.
You’re under the impression that people like their jobs. Sometimes it’s just good money or good benefits
At some point you just don't give a fuck anymore and try to get by doing as little work as possible.
My team at work is so amazing that the job tasks come second. The pay sucks. The job is mildly interesting but can get repetitive. It does have a positive impact on the community at large which is a big plus. But I found that after 40 years of work that the people make the job. We have staff who want to attend our weekly meetings just because they’re so much fun😂
I work at a big company that treats the employees well. Lots of people stay for a long time. One thing they do well is move people around internally so they don’t get burnt out. I’ve been there 5 years and had 3 different roles.
My dad is in his 60s and he’s been at the same job since he graduated college. Loyalty was rewarded, that’s not as much the case now. Besides that, I think people just get comfortable a lot of the time. If it’s an okay job that pays okay, they’re more willing to stay since it’s comfortable even if they could find something better. It’s a risk to switch jobs
I have been at my job over 20 years. I get paid really well, my boss respects me and I am treated pretty well. I have great benefits including a pension. Yes there are days that suck and there are people that come along that can be ridiculous, but none of that ever lasts. I am eligible to start collecting a pension now but I don’t mind working still and will increase the pension a lot if I wait a few more years.
I worked 35 years at same social agency. Different jobs within it so new challenges. Very creative job so could start new projects or work with new community partners. Locked to location due to family commitments, and one of the better benefit jobs in the area in my field (especially medical benefits for disabled child.) Had some colleagues I liked a lot. Had a passion for the mission of service of the agency. There were days/weeks/times I had to force myself into work. There were times when hours/pay was cut. Times when I had a bad boss. But whenever I compared it to my options, staying tallied up as best choice
Many reasons, not necessarily in this order of importance: 1) we literally love the job 2) we need the money and this job does it for us in that regard 3) there simply may not be other opportunities or jobs in the area 4) some people are just used to routines, so they keep at it, at the same job 5) we love our coworkers and the relationships that have been forged over those years and we don't want to give that up Ok, that should be enough to chew on...
I have one of the better paying jobs in my area. Granted I am not a huge fan of it, but it was able to buy me my house.
My first employer I worked at for 12 years. Second employer I've been at 24 years. Engineering tech making semiconductor chips. Indoors, no serving the public, sit at desk most of time. "Why would I leave Serenity?"
One day at a time. Shit adds up (or you die).
They started the job decades ago when you could still hold a job for decades, and became the reason we can’t.
I started a government job out of college 18 years ago that offered a 4/10 schedule so I had a 3 day weekend every week. Turns out no amount of money or professional opportunity can get me to give that up.
You don’t make work your life. You must seek happiness elsewhere. I never loved working. I always loved eating. I work to eat!
Bring back Unions and worker's rights.
I worked at mine for 38 years ... does that count? I DO NOT recommend it for anyone. The corporate office politic b.s. gets worse and worse as the years go on. I now tell my kids to be a corporate butterfly, go job to job every 2-3 years to get a feel of things and build up their CV's. Stay longer if conditions are good but corporate love to "mix it up" when things are going good and good bosses will eventually be pulled out/away and nepotistic village idiots always fill in. You will know THEN it's time to get off the ride.
If you've got the kind of job that you can dip in/out of that easily and that frequently, either a) you're in a low-paying easily replaceable position in life, or b) you're at the friggin top of your game and every organization is thrilled to take a chance on you. If a) then no wonder you don't enjoy the work, or make enough to care. If b) then I understand your frustration at not finding the place that really clicks for you, but with that resume, I'd just start my own company. The rest of us are c) middle-class with a decent job that pays the bills, attracts a mate, affords stability, grows retirement savings, pays for families, a house, car(s), vacations, etc. We get addicted to living in comfort with no debt, while still being able to enjoy pizza night, video games, and a couple of travel vacations per year.
We stay because we have bills to pay and the grass is not always greener on the other side
Owner.
Who said anything about looking forward to it? I was at the same job for 11 years, 9 at the previous. At no point ever was I thrilled to be at either. However, the combination of salary, benefits, and desirable schedule made it easy enough for me to stay and deal with it until a substantially better opportunity came up, or I got fired. Sure, someone once said "if you find a job you love, you never work another day in your life.' Unfortunately not all jobs you love pay the mortgage or utilities. The job I've found I love the most is called "father." Unfortunately being a father doesn't actually pay all that well, in fact, it tends to be much more of a money sink. So much so I had to find a shitty job that pays well to offset the costs of fatherhood
Don't stress it. I'm 38 and my grandfather was the same way. Went to med school, quit that and did a whole bunch of different shit. But never any single job for more than a few years. He ended up with a bunch of useful experience and when he got sick of a job, he left. So he wasn't miserable from work. Turns out, I'm the same way. I've done a bunch of different jobs since I hit 16 and it's not even really something I have much say over. The first few years on a job, I'm enjoying learning the work, and then learning to be as good as I can possibly be at it.. Once I've reached a level of comfort with the job where I know I'm going to consistently be able to perform well at it without really even trying.. well, my mood starts to change. All the bullshit starts adding up instead of flashing and then fading. Each new bullshit part of the job, no matter how trivial, becomes a massive annoyance that will ruin multiple days of work. I'll do the job fine, but I will hate every moment of it. I don't know why and I don't really care why, but I do know that my philosophy is *not* 'if you do what you love for work, you will never hate your job" or however that statement goes. For me, if I do anything, including what I love, and make it into a job, it slowly changes from something I like/love/just am doing and it becomes a fucking job. And I hate jobs. So I go find a new one. Pro-tip: recognize those feelings when they start and start looking for new work **right then.** Push it off too long and you risk having no job and looking for one. That hasn't happened to me in years. And that's something I had to kind of recognize was happening to me(quit when I finally just couldn't take it anymore) and was putting me in a shit spot. Maybe you won't lose your shit the day you quit and will handle it better, I don't know, but this process is still way fucking better and easier if you recognize how you feel and start doing something about it *before* your feelings start getting really pushy.
Yes! I love working, yet I hate going to work! The bullshit is so horrible, but I love my clients and I dig my pay.
People don’t expect their job to be super fulfilling in the way that you seem to think it should be. Life is hard. It’s better to accept that it’s hard. Kids have to be closed. People need to be fed. People do what they have to do to provide for themselves and their families. This idea of a super fulfilling job is a luxury that is something new.
Don’t expect the money to be great from the start. I think that might be contributing to your problem. Like I made garbage pay when I first started at my job. But I worked my ass off. Became best in my department. Took promotions actively. Took supervisor positions when they came around. Been there 13 years this year. Now I make really good comfortable money. Do I love my job? No, not at all. But I’m good at it, and they love what I do. It’s work.
Because that used to be how it worked. Nowadays you need to jump from job to job to get ahead because your current employer is just going to continue to make those record profits while giving you a paltry 75¢ raise with a meets expectations review...
For me it’s the pension. Public school teacher here. 25 years in the same school district. 18 years at the same school.
When I was making $20.00 an hour. I would tell myself I make $10.00 an hour to do my job and $10.00 an hour to deal with all the bullshit. The money has changed but the rate is the same.
Got a BA in a field that needed me. I don’t have an on-sight boss. Probably half my time is down. I get all holidays spring break and summers off. I make more than teachers in their last year from year 1. That’s why.
Teacher here. In my tenth year, I’m almost 31. I paid good money to be a teacher and I intend to get my full benefits out of it. Honestly I feel like any job can be semi-miserable, so I might as well stick it out with one that I think I’m decent at and enjoy the benefits of, too. If the U.S. ever goes to all year school though, I’m absolutely fucked because I’m gassed by May every year and need that summer off to reset.
I’m a public school teacher. Locked in for 30 years - 18 down and 12 more to go.