How Long Should You Stay At Your Job?

95% of American workers said they planned to look for a new job in 2024. Money is a big part of this. 45% of American workers say they need more income. Those who change jobs increase their salaries more quickly, on average, than those who

stay

. In February 2024, people who

stay

ed at their job for more than three months increased their salary by 5.1% year-on-year, while those who changed jobs increased by 5.9%. I ended up almost doubling my salary after a year and a half, and then every year from there I probably increased my salary from $15,000 to $35,000 or $40,000. But hiring professionals emphasize that it's important to be strategic about job moves.

You don't want to rise through the ranks too quickly and then be that expensive head that's easy to cut off in any kind of crisis. I think companies expect an unrealistic level of loyalty, but unfortunately many times we are at their whim, right? So we have to play the game, and that game makes it seem like you're going to spend the rest of

your

life there. They really want to be lied to. So how

long

is the optimal amount of time to stay at

your

job for your career advancement, salary, and well-being? The survey data on why people leave their jobs is pretty consistent across the board.

Those at the top of the list want a higher salary and don't feel like they have room to grow in their current job. The desire for higher salaries can lead people to jump from job to job in a short period of time. Changing companies is often the fastest way to get to the next level in terms of seniority and income level. And the reality behind this is that in your current company, in order to get promoted, in order for you to move to the next level, that position has to open up in a way that someone is leaving or getting promoted or the company is growing.

Generation Z is 36% more likely than other generations to prioritize advancement opportunities. Even if there are advancement opportunities within their current workplace, they may find it easier to leave. Many employers approach people and hire them. Workers have more bargaining power that way. You can also more easily find out what salaries are available by simply, you know, going on ZipRecruiter and looking at job postings, while maybe finding out what the opportunities are within your company involves a bit of an awkward conversation with your manager. Other common reasons for leaving are to obtain better benefits to escape a toxic work environment and achieve a better work-life balance.

Also, if I paid people more, would they be happier? If that were true, then investment banks and private equity firms and law firms would be the happiest places in the world to work. They're notoriously not seen that way because there's a certain way that people are treated, whether it's benefits or time off or compensation or, frankly, how people are treated day in and day out with interpersonal skills. Those are the things that end up being more important. Workers also have career aspirations that may not be met in their current jobs. Early in my career, I always had the goal of eventually working for myself.

So I told myself around age 30: try to get enough experience and exposure to the things it takes to have a consulting business. So in every job I've worked, I've always left a company, if I felt like I'd already gotten the skill I needed to get. And if I didn't have opportunities to get the skills I needed, I went to the next place. As human beings, we tend to change every 2 or 3 years in terms of our goals, our priorities, our stages of life. And now the younger generations are asking, well, what good is my career and not the other way around?

There is never a wrong reason to want to leave. If you want to leave, you can leave, right? But you have to be smart when leaving. Americans consistently stay in their jobs for an average of 3 to 4 years. In 2022, the average tenure was 4.1 years. In 2002, it was 3.7 years and in 1983 it was 3.5 years. But breaking down those numbers by age offers a clearer picture of how

long

Americans

should

stay in their jobs. Between 2002 and 2022, workers ages 20 to 24 typically stayed in their jobs for less than a year and a half. If older workers are analyzed, average seniority increases with each age group.

I think a lot of people think that job change is a generational thing, but it's actually more age-driven than generation-driven. So, our generations of parents are the same age as today's youth, a lot of data shows that they quit smoking at very similar rates. A study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that American adults born between 1957 and 1964 held an average of 12.7 jobs between the ages of 18 and 56, and nearly half of those jobs were held before age 25. I think the idea that you have to stay with a company for a long period of time most likely comes from our families and our parents, because their expectation and their version of success was to stay with a company, or at least in a career, their entire life. life.

Our parents would collect pensions, work in a company for a certain time, retire and collect the rest of their lives. So incentives have been reduced and loyalty simply does not exist. Another thing to consider is that many benefits accumulate over time. So if you switch companies too quickly, you could be leaving money on the table. For example, some employers won't let you keep your 401(k) plan until you've been there for a certain number of years. I see a huge wave of Gen Z and millennial professionals asking themselves: is this job, is this career right for me?

And what do I want my career to look and feel like and where do I find this career? Instead of feeling like I have to keep doing what I've been doing in my career. Recruiters say there is more scope to change jobs earlier in your career. Generation Z can do that right now because they are in their early 20s, but when they reach their 20s or 30s. They can't be moving like that. You have 22 years. You are not making any professional mistakes right now. There are so many places you could go and none of them would be a mistake.

Because you are very young and you have many years to discover what you want to do. When you're 35, right? Ideally, you are in your career and earning a good salary with great benefits. And once you have that, you'll have to be more strategic and intentional with the moves you make, because now you can make a really serious professional mistake. Instead of asking how long you

should

stay at your job, career experts suggest focusing on how much you've accomplished. I think the biggest risk in changing jobs or leaving too soon is not understanding where you are in your development.

And that's why I try to tell people to stop focusing on money, especially if you're well compensated and can pay your bills and survive. Don't just focus on getting a big pay rise before you're really prepared, before you've acquired the right skills. Don't focus on time. Don't focus on money. Focus on skills. And if you're comfortable with the skills you're learning, then you'll be ready to take it to the next level. Workers may also want to consider looking at their career as a whole, rather than focusing solely on tenure or compensation. I took a $20,000 pay cut when I first left the jump, and I knew it was okay because it would be multiplied tenfold based on the experience I was going to gain at the new workplace.

So I don't focus on the money. And I know it's a privilege to say it because my roles compensate me well. And when I started my career, I really reduced my cost of living. I would say I lived in a house with seven other people and my rent was like $500. So after taking the $20,000 pay cut, I ended up almost doubling my salary after a year and a half. And then from there, every year, I probably increased my salary from $15,000 to $35,000 or $40,000. And now that I'm an independent consultant, I mean, this is the most I've ever made in my life.

While changing jobs might lead to a faster salary increase, long-term loyalty and stickiness often pay off in the end. So if you look at the five highest-paid people within a company, they are often the veterans who were there from the beginning. The company may only want people in senior leadership positions who have a demonstrated track record of reliability, sustained performance, and loyalty to the company. Companies don't do promotions that often. They could do it once a year, twice a year. So if you've only gotten through two cycles, but the company has a policy of promoting people about once every three years, you might miss out on that big payday if.

You are not a self-aware person and you do not do much introspection about what you are and what you are not prepared for; In my opinion, changing jobs is not wise. If you can't truly assess your true skill set, you'll have a hard time getting the opportunities you want or reaching your ultimate goal. Timing and the overall economy are also important factors. How difficult it would be to find a new job. In January 2024, Glassdoor's employee trust rating fell to its lowest point since 2016. You need to determine your strategy before giving that notice, because it takes people 6 to 12 months to land a new position.

A 2023 survey from Insight Global revealed that 55% of unemployed adults said they had been looking for a new job for so long that they were completely burned out. This trend is hitting Generation Z the hardest, with two-thirds of them experiencing app burnout. But 75% of Generation Z workers would leave their jobs without having a new one lined up. Personally, I would never leave a job if I didn't have another opportunity already lined up. Another part of being strategic is thinking about how employers view a candidate's work history. For employers, turnover is challenging and very costly because, realistically, hiring is time-consuming and resource-intensive. 90% of organizations are concerned about employee retention.

Helping employees improve their skills is a key component to retaining talent. Companies with a strong learning culture see higher retention rates, more internal mobility, and a healthier management pipeline compared to those with lower levels of engagement. But there's also a goldilocks dynamic to this. Sometimes companies don't care about turnover. People think that employers don't want any turnover. I don't agree with that belief and believe that companies that don't want turnover are actually creating more problems and mistakes, because that would imply that every person you hire was right. And I've never met anyone who is perfect at anything.

There are many industries that don't seem to care much about high turnover. But some companies may be taking a more lenient attitude when looking at employment history. I think employers are very wary of workers who change jobs for a small additional pay rise, but they understand if people are looking for opportunities to learn more, to advance their careers, to gain broader experience with some career goal in mind. I think people in hiring positions now, who are millennials and 15 years into their careers, have a lot more empathy than previous generations, and they don't expect the lifelong loyalty that previous generations expected.

Realistically, most people have some sort of gap on their resume, and the longer you are in the workplace, the more likely you are to have a gap, or to have a three-month short-term experience. on his resume because that didn't work. Employers are human and they know it. They understand that. And the chance that the hiring manager you're talking to has been through that is actually very high. You have to figure out what is the best decision for you. And the only person who can do it is you. And people come to me all the time and tell me what to do.

And I tell them I can't tell them what to do. I can tell you what I would do in this situation, but I can't tell you what to do because this is your career and it will affect you.