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Hi, Could anyone tell me how to describe (good words) a person who stayed in a company very long (didn't change job often). Thank you very much.

GuyD · Accepted Answer

There are a number of reasons for long job tenures.

One is the lack of job skills. This is especially true for those who have risen to a level in a company that could not be matched if the person changed jobs. If a person cannot find a job with better pay than the current job, the decision to change jobs is more difficult.

A second reason is lack of opportunity. When the economy is poor, as it is now, there are not as many good jobs available, so finding a better or more pleasing job is more difficult. In times of poor economy, people are also less willing to take changes with a new job. Common advice from friends and family is likely to be "Stay where you are."

A third reason is job satisfaction. Studies show that most people are unhappy with their job, but not all. Those who truly love their job are likely to stay put. Money alone is not always the controlling factor in the decision to change jobs.

A fourth reason is job loyalty. In today's world, job loyalty is no longer the influence it once was. There was a time when the better companies "took care" of their emplyees. Now with outsourcing of jobs, people are apt not to have the trust they once had of their employer; hence, the role of job loyalty in changing jobs is less and less of an issue.

Of all the reason to spend your career with one company, the one most appealing is job satisfaction. When you're happy with your job, you're likely to be happy at other places in your life.

Maj · Answer

I am sorry to disagree with your reasoning. There are people who are totally happy in their jobs and have managed to wreck their personal lives completely.

GuyD · Answer

OK, then I would like to hear your reasoning.

Remember, I didn't say that everyone who loved his job would be happy. I said "most likely." Wisdom is never true in ever instance. It's only true in enough instances to make it worth considering as your first option. Someone might say, "If you play with fire, you're going to get burned." Is that true? No, not all the time. But it is true enough of the time to be a guide for someone who might otherwise play with fire.

Maj · Answer

I would agree with you that the common advice from friends and family is likely to be "Stay where you are." However, there are people who are job loyal, who have been in the same job for ages, whose job doesn't bore them but doesn't fulfill them either, whose main interest is not money but personal development but suddenly out of the blue get an offer that might turn their world upside dow. Would that be playing with fire? I think it would if there was no clear project from the company offering the job. What happens if you play with snow? Do you get frozen?

GuyD · Answer

I thought of another reason why people are likely to stay in a job a very long time--location. I suspect that many people could find better paying and more pleasing jobs by changing locations. Location alone, however, is a controlling factor on job longevity because of a desire to be near family, or in a large city, or near the ocean, or many other factors.

GuyD · Answer

Certainly people change jobs for lots of reasons, money being perhaps the most common reason. Other reasons include a promotion, a promise of more opportunity, a transfer, etc. But the original post had to do with why people stay in job for a long time. The post had nothing to do with what might happen if a person stays in their present job or goes to a new one. We're not taking about cause and effect; we are talking about why people choose to stay in a job for a very long time.

Whenever anyone makes a major decision-about marriage, about a job, about a college, etc., there is always the chance that the decision might be the wrong decision. A lot of people take on a new job with the thought of more money or of bettering themselves or of moving to a new location where they would like to live only to be disappointed or even devastated when things don't work out the way they thought they would. But all of that has to do with a different post-one that has not yet been posted.

And yes, if you play in the snow, you might freeze to death. You probably won't unless you're drunk, or an unattended infant, or someone who crashed into a tree slidding down the hill and is knocked unconscious. But there is no wisdom that says, "If you play in the snow, you're going to freeze," while there is a piece of wisdom in our western tradition that says, "If you play with fire, you'll get burned." The English idiom means that if you do risky things, live dangerously, take chances, you may get hurt.

If you go to google.com and search on "If you play with fire," you will find a number of explicit explanations for what this phrase means.

Maj · Answer

I find your post surprisingly interesting. First of all I would like to say that money might be the most common reason for a large majority of the population, though it wouldn't work for me. I'd turned down a few much better paid jobs which offered less free time. So I would guess free time would be one important issue for some people when considering changing jobs. I would also say that people might choose to stay in a job for very long if they have nothing more fulfilling in perspective.

I wholeheartedly agree that if there is a chance that the decision you take might be the wrong decision. I would really like to read the post you mentioned that still hasn't been posted. I was wondering why there are things in life that you change easily: why do some people don't mind moving into a different house every five years, but are more reluctant to change jobs?

GuyD · Answer

Yes, I think you are right and make a good point--many people no doubt stay in a job for a long time because of working conditions, especially if they have more freedom than they might have in another job.

The US Department of labor regulates how many hours a week a person can work without his employer having to pay overtime. If you have the energy and patience, you can research this at www.dol.gov. "Executive, administrative and professional employees (including teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools), outside sales employees, and certain skilled computer professionals (as defined in the Department of Labor's regulations) are exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements." These are not all of the people exempt however. You can see the complete list with more detail than you probably are interested in at www.dol.gov.

Many employers often deliberately classify an employee or group of employees in such a way as to make them exempt, thereby forcing those employees to work longer hours without overtime pay. From time to time, you will read in the newspaper about an employee or group of employees who have been awarded "back pay" in instances where the Department of Labor has ruled that the employee or employees were not exempt.

Many employees, however, do not want to work more than 40 hours a week even if their employer treats them fairly and pays them the overtime pay they are entitled to. In those cases, a person may very well choose to stay with a job that does not require overtime rather than go with an employer who does require overtime. Like you say, some people prefer their free time rather than more money.

Certainly there are also people who stay in jobs for a long time because there is nothing more fulfilling at their disposal. That was implied in my first post when I mentioned "opportunity."

The post that has not been posted, which I mentioned in my last post, was purely hypothetical. There is no such post. I was merely making a point.

I can only guess why some changes are easier than others for some people. Some people are impulsive spenders as evidenced by how much debt is being carried by consumers. I suspect that certain of life's decisions are impulsive, even a major purchase like buying a new home. I have known a few people whose marriages were failing to move to a new home thinking that such a move might strengthen their marriage. People sometimes have a baby for the same reason. As people move up the ladder in their company or if they get a raise in pay, sometimes they feel the need to "move up" in society by buying a more expensive home in a better neighborhood. People may even make changes out of boredom--they might even change jobs for this reason.

With a little effort, I'm sure you and I could come up with more reasons.

Maj · Answer

Hey Guyd, I really enjoyed myself reading your post. I reckon that you raised some highly interesting points. I don't know exactly why but I would also agree that some people act  impulsively when they make a decision that might affect them for the rest of their lives and which, therefore, might not turn out  to be as expected in the long run. I guess, I am one of those lunatic navigators that follow the compass of the northy winds if you see what I mean. For that very same reason I have never gone stray. I must confess that some people have told me that they thought I had lost my mind on numerous occasion but eventually they were proven wrong. I have digressed a little to explain the situation so far. I forgot to mention in my last post that one thing that might be worth considering taking up a new job is the opportunities to travel that the potential new jobs might offer. It appears that some jobs require a lot of travelling to be done, which can be an advantage if you like travelling and a massive disadvantage if you don't. That would be one issue that I would definitely take into account if I ever considered changing jobs. Nedless to say, I love travelling.

GuyD · Answer

You sound like a remarkable person who considers everything carefully. I can see from this and other posts that you are a very inquisitive person, not afraid to ask difficult questions. I admire your attitude about life. You are probably going to reach your destination. Keep following your intuition.

And yes, a lot of people no doubt take new jobs in order to travel. I would consider that myself.

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