Boomer here. Sample of two. I worked doing the same job my entire career. I had five different jobs in the first ten years out of college…but the last job was one I stayed at for 30 years.
DH…has worked for at least six different companies in his career, maybe 7. Some moves have been sort of lateral moves (but for good reasons like different opportunities, or better working conditions). Others have been move up moves.
I don’t think this article is unique to millenials.
@JHS Can you characterize the reasons why your wife choose to make lateral moves to new companies so frequently?
I have been at same employer for 38+ years; had a prior job in a distant city for 2 years before moving here. No DB plan here, just like it here - the flexibility was a godsend for a growing family.
Sure. She’s mission-driven, someone who wants to change the world. None of her jobs has been in the private sector (except for now, since as a free-lance consultant she essentially works for herself, but her ultimate clients are almost all governments and nonprofits). She has been back and forth between different state and local government jobs (always as a political appointee, but one appointed for her substantive expertise, not her fundraising) and various types of nonprofits – a huge foundation, a small local advocacy group, the local United Way, a national policy advocacy group. She has been a state cabinet official with a budget in excess of $20 billion and tens of thousands of employees, and a complete free agent with a desk, her own ideas, and a budget of $0. Her job changes have either been an opportunity to accomplish more, or a graceful way to extract herself from a situation that wasn’t being productive enough.
Apart from her very first jobs, no one has ever hired her to be a good soldier climbing the ladder and loyal to the organization. She’s really good at making things happen in the field she knows best, and people hire her when they want those kinds of things to happen.
H has 48 years with the same company @-) . I’m praying that he retires before he reaches 50…