Why does this new generation think the same job is bad?

[TwixVoy]

I was reading a financial advice article recently that was giving much of its advice on the assumption the reader would hop from job to job every few years. The author even recognized this and included a line saying "after all you don't want to stay at the same job for more than a few years, right?"

The author was recommending AGAINST borrowing from your 401k (which is a bad idea to begin with), but not for the more common reasons. The primary reason the author recommended against it was because "no one plans to stay at the same job for more than a few years" and if you leave your job while you have an outstanding 401k loan it would likely have to be paid in full at that point.

I have also read articles in which claims are made that this new younger generation does not believe in staying at any job for more than a few years.

My question is for those more familiar with this generation - why is it now considered favorable to only stay at your job for a few years before going to another one? I have always considered staying at the same job to be more favorable and I think most of us in the older generation hold that opinion. For one thing it brings stability. It brings the opportunity to promote within the company over time which increases your earning and standing. You have years of experience allowing you to know what you are doing and do your job well. I could go on.

It seems to me that frequently going from job to job would be like starting over every time and also bring a very chaotic life. I don't understand why this is desired now?

[bluerum]

1. In general, you get a lot bigger raise when you change jobs.

At least this used to be the case. Typically 10-15% increase when you change jobs vs 3-4% yearly review increase.

[TwixVoy]

3. I would not consider that a raise

I would consider it new pay for a new job which has always been the case.

Every few years I have been able to almost double my pay through promotions. I would much rather prefer this than to hop from job to job with the hopes I would make a 10% increase over the last one.

[Book Lover]

6. What industry are you in?

Publishing so does not work like that. You have to hop around, otherwise, you'd get nothing but a COLA adjustment annually.

[eilen]

20. same thing with nursing

you only get decent pay increases when you move laterally. Otherwise you will be working with many years experience and longevity and the new grad/new hire will be making more than you.

Nurses don't seem to get laid off like those in other jobs. Instead they treat you like crap and overwork you to death to induce you to leave.

[Vickers]

8. "Every few years I have been able to almost double my pay through promotions. "

How 'bout some details? I'm very interested.

[yardwork]

9. You double your pay through promotions every year?!

What field are you in? Dish! Most of us are lucky to get single digit percent increases unless we get a competing job offer.

Many people lose their jobs every few years due to cutbacks and layoffs. They are forced to be on the job market at all times, anticipating the next layoff. Many folks have their resumes up to date and ready to go at a moment's notice because of this.

I would say that it isn't the people who have changed, but the corporations. Previous generations could count on keeping their jobs as long as they did a good job, and being rewarded for their loyalty with regular pay increases, good benefits, and a decent pension and continued health benefits when they retired. No more.

[bluerum]

27. Well. Kudos.

[dysfunctional press]

18. bingo. it's why a lot of people change jobs- it's why i did...more than once-

i was a travel agent on the rotary international account, in an on-site office of 10 agents. my billing numbers were more than the rest of the agents combined- and when an assistant mgr position opened up my boss told me that he couldn't afford to lose me as an agent on the floor, and that the maximum raise he could give was 3%. so i left for another job that gave me a 20% increase in pay. a year later, the person who had gotten the asst mgr job at the rotary account was now the mgr- and she hired me back there with a 15% raise over what the new job had been paying.
and when i eventually left the rotary job again a little over a year later- it was once again to get a bigger bump in pay, more than anything.

[Juche]

2. How old was s/he

If it is a first real career then I can see wanting to move to different cities and try out different options w/in the career field.

However if you are moving from job to job every 9-18 months after you have 20 years of work experience, kids and a mortgage that can be a problem. But for a 23 year old who wants to see new cities, try new things and learn new skills its not a bad idea.

[TwixVoy]

4. Don't know the age

but the article was talking about 401ks and borrowing from them.... something most 20 year olds sadly don't even have yet I would think.

[bliss_eternal]

5. self delete.

.

[The Straight Story]

7. I am 42

Learned it from employers who are always trying to change people to save money :)

[Edweird]

10. Because loyalty has to flow both ways for it to be worth your while to stick around.

That just isn't happening these days. You go, make your money, and leave before you are "reduced" "laid off" or "outsourced". Nobody wants it this way, but you have to play the hand you're dealt.

[CC]

11. Staying at a job made sense when the

employer valued the employee and showed it with raises, pensions, more vacation time and respect. When people quit getting all of the above and watched older co-workers get laid off just before they had enough time to collect the pension promised it took away valid reasons to be loyal to the work place. The employers are reaping the benefit of screwing over the workforce. Young adults now know that the average company will screw them every chance they get so why not go for the better pay now.

[charlyvi]

12. My nephew and his girlfriend told me

that employers like to know their employees deal well with change and are very flexible. They don't like to hire people who have been in one job too long. Doesn't make sense to me, but they say it's the face of the new work market. When I first started working, having too many jobs meant you were unreliable and flighty. Times change, I guess.

[Edweird]

14. Translation: They don't want to hire someone that will be a "basket case" when they are laid off.

It's a temp job in disguise. My .02

[charlyvi]

16. Oh, I agree.

It's like employers now want nothing but private contractors.

[Duke Newcombe]

19. From a private contractor: these days, they don't even want me

Unless I'm willing to become a "contract to hire"-read, let me try you out at a crappy rate, and if I like you, hire you W2 at an even crappier salary.

Duke

[undeterred]

21. Or even worse, they hire twice what they need and fire after 3 months

They fire the people who object to being abused.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. There is little or no loyalty on either side anymore.

It's a game of cat and mouse. Some days you're the cat, some days you're the mouse.

Big corporations treat their folks like hunks of meat these days, yet they can't understand why employees don't give 110%

[msongs]

15. your job is just as likely to leave you nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

17. With the all mergers and consolidations that result in job losses

I've heard TV experts suggest that not only is moving from one job to another a common and good thing in society, but that moving to several different fields through the course of a lifetime is also perfectly normal and desirable. America seems to be a more volatile place, especially in the workplace since I was young and since the merger-mania that started under the Reagan administration.

[hendo]

22. I'm 28 and I plan on staying with the company I'm with as long as they want me

I don't get why some people job hop now. The only three times that I think it would make sense is:
1)if someone is a successful entrepreneur who starts new companies and then sells them for a profit
2)if someone is trapped in a horrible job.
3)if someone loses their job due to downsizing.

[NeedleCast]

23. In the IT Field, it's just how things are

I spent three years at my last job and that's a marathon by Washington DC metro area standards in the IT field. A lot of it, I think, has to do with the fact that there's very little employer loyalty anymore. I got fired from my last job for my blog. Seriously. After three years of outstanding work which saw me receive almost 15K in bonuses over three years, my employer found out (from a mysterious "tippster") that I had a blog that was general unkind to our main customer (federal government0 and they fired me for it as a violation of their ethics policies because they were scared. The blog used all fake names and never mentioned my employer or out customer by name, but they didn't care. Said it jeopardized the contract. Maybe it did, who knows. I don't really care, but that's the level of employer support that I've come to expect. I f you aren't a suck-ass "yes man" they'll send you out the door. Oh, they front the whole "family environment that will support you if you're in need" but one wrong move and your fired. As I said, I was a great employee who worked hard, did a great job (according to all my annual reviews and customer feedback) and I had received a 6,000 dollar off-cycle raise about two months before this happened. But because I had a mostly personal blog that occasionally mentioned customer stupidity, I got canned.

So I got a new job after taking June off which is closer to home and got a 5K raise out of. I start my new gig tomorrow, and if I get a phone call from a company offering me another 5K, I'd resign immediately.

Employers have turned the marked into a completely mercenary industry. Offer me more money, a better commute, better benefits and I'll jump with no hesitation, because I know that whoever it is I'm working for will not hesitate to unload me with no warning should if it's healthy for their bottom line.

I've had this same conversation with my dad who, in 35 years held a total of two jobs, one as an attorney for the State of Texas and one as a private practice attorney. He has a hard time understanding that the IT field is not the same as the legal field and that this is not the same era that he grew up in, when employers actually seemed to have some loyalty to their personnel.

[Cheap_Trick]

24. I'm 42

and will be starting my 25th year with Pepsi on July 17.

[Skittles]

25. the new generation already knows job loyalty means nothing

we had to find out the hard way - they've seen what their parents and grandparents went through

[Midlodemocrat]

30. I think you are exactly right, Skittles.

I would never relocate for a job. I've seen too many people do it and get laid off/fired after a few months. So, they're stuck in a new city with no job, no friends, and a house they can't unload.

Not worth it.

[Greyhound]

26. Good or bad is irrelevant, it is usually not up to the employee.

Companies have adopted the tortured logic of the MBAs that tell them you must not let employees become essential or too expensive.

IT is a great example of this model. We have to "job hop" because if you don't you get branded as whatever it is you do forever and if that skill set falls out of fashion you're destined to sink like a stone. Perversely, as you get older and more experienced your "market value" decreases because you know too much and the decision makers don't want to hear that their ideas could be done better or will not work at all. They are looking for automatons that will do as they are told and only what they are told.

Jobs: Off-shore them, if you can't, get a H-1(b) slave, if you haven't, or can't, pony up the "contributions" to get those, then out-source them. Employees are a liability to be avoided.

[lostnfound]

28. A 100% and a 50% raise. And yes, a more chaotic life.

Companies no longer reward longevity.

On the flip side, when you change jobs you bring different experiences and perspective to the new position.

[sendero]

29. I was lucky...

... when I started my technology/computers career back in the 70s, a good friend on the job who was somewhat older and a lot wiser than me told me "to get fairly paid in this business you will have to switch jobs every 2-3 years several times".

I took his advice to heart and it worked out well. Fact is, there is an "accountant's" mentality at play at most companies. It goes something like this "how can Joe Blow be worth 25% more this year than he was last year?".

Well, it's stupid beyond belief, because when Joe Blow leaves it will cost at least that much to hire an unknown quantity to fill his position.

But the accountant mindset was never known for being all that bright.

[MiniMe]

31. People used to stay at the same job because a pension was earned for longevity

No more. Many companies are also willing to hire from outside at a higher salary than promoting or moving somebody from within, at least that has been my experience. Its worth it to stay long enough to get vested in your 401k plan if you have a company match, there is no incentive to stay longer.