[Anthony]

I think my career and salary growth are a testament to the fact that company loyalty might be a dead concept for young professionals.

While I try to stick to a monthly budget of ~$3,500 per month, I have found that growing my income has been a much better use of my time and energy.
How have others approached this?

Obviously, switching companies too often raises red flags with employers. I think this will be my last move for awhile.

Hedging Actuary / Quantitative Derivatives

Exams are required for this career and contributed to some of the growth.

2017: $52,000 [Company A – Age 22]
2022: $150,000 [Company B – Age 27]
2025: $204,000 [Company C – final interview stages – Age 30]

[Berk]

HR Manager of 15 years – yes, you’ll make significantly more money moving around every few years. Typically 10-20% each time you move to a new employer.

However, you must be careful. When someone is in their 40’s and has had 10 salaried career level jobs, and the company is looking for loyalty and stability they’re going to skip over that resume.

[Kristen]

Congratulations on your success! I agree that job hopping tends to yield better income gains (my husband has experienced this personally).

But I will caution that not every industry works this way.

I can tell you that education/libraries remain relatively stagnant in their pay scales.

I think my boss makes only $10k more than I do.

[Rodriguez]

In the insurance industry especially this is 100% true. if you work hard, know your shit, and are pleasant to work with – it’s easy to shine.

And you can get into insurance from other industries… a lot of skills are transferable then you get certificates and licensed without going back to school.

For example, I have a fashion merchandising degree and was a fashion buyer for 8 years and it wasn’t enough money for the hours demanded.

So, I networked with friends and landed a job in insurance making $85k w/ 7k bonus in 2017 and then $300k w/ 135k bonus in 2023.

2 job moves only. It’s not glamorous and hard work at times, but it’s a recession proof industry with tons of opportunity.

[Nicole]

Who told you people should be loyal to a company? I was told there was no such thing as loyalty in college in the early 2000’s and moved accordingly.

[Thompson]

You’re my hero. As I sit here updating my resume again.
Age 36, Nurse for 8 years, prior bachelors and non nursing experiences that aren’t seen as adding value although contributed to skill development.

Fought for my life to get to $85k. I have yet to hit $1 for my annual ‘merit’ based reviews even while scoring very good – exceptional in all areas.

I’m in NY so not low cost living.
Job hopping looks like equal to less pay in my specialty areas.

Theres little sympathy for nurses concerned with their pay bc a small % of roles can pay higher and that’s for some reason what’s accepted by public as our average salary.

I have strong skills that I feel could be better rewarded in other industries.

This is why many capable people are leaving healthcare

[Mandi]

If more companies still offered pensions, they’d likely have more loyal employees. Without good benefits and potential for higher pay what’s the incentive to stay.

Nothing wrong with job hopping if it’s more beneficial all around.

[Rob]

Your company has no loyalty to you. Switching every 3-5 years is the best way to grow your salary as well as experience.

[Penna]

I’ve been with the same company for 16 years, started making minimum wage in high school and now make 250-300k per year depending on bonus.

Which is pretty high for my industry, I think I’m the rare exception to this rule as I do see many in other fields switching companies frequently to increase pay/benefits.

[Tracy]

I have been at the company I work for—which I love and respect—for nine years.

I have made less every single year.

It’s getting to the point that I CAN’T stay there any longer, because the price of everything has gone up and I can no longer make it work, even on my very low cost of living.

I am still determined to find an ADDITIONAL job rather than leave the one I have.

I’m 45. The company loyalty thing was DEEPLY engrained into my generation (I’m the youngest Gen X or the oldest millennial, depending upon who you ask. 1980 was a cusp year.)

[Rosemarie]

Way too many variables to say one way is better than the other.
As a single parent I chose a career that in my state is extremely stable (75% have been doing it more than 10 years), offers over 4 months a year off with no nights or weekends – and comes with fully paid benefits, and a comfortable pension.

I have gone from $32k-$168k (not counting benefits or pension) in my 25 years and never had to move or take another exam – or stress about not meeting some sales goal or deal with any private industry uncertainty.

During covid my checks never changed.

I literally just moved my classroom materials to a new room after 18 years of being in the last one.

$32k -$168k is what, 425% increase? 17% a year?

Whenever I decide to retire (min age 55) I will leave with a six figure pension with a 2% cola and inflation protection stipends (that I will have contributed less than $200k personally) plus another $300k-$500k in cash from a secondary pension account my state provides. (Plus, my own investments of course.)

Government employment is still a great choice for those that are good with the slow but steady growth in income that comes with the stability of a career in public service.

[Gentry]

Elder millennial here. Before I joined my current company I had the same outlook. My longest tenure was 3 years.

Most others closer to 2. I’ve been with my current company just over 4 years and have seen almost $100k in raises to my base during that time.

Some industries, companies, and leadership do compensate well.

[Mia]

Yep. Especially in tech. Went from $85k – 95k in 4 years with multiple skill upgrades and increased responsibilities at one company, then from $135k – $275k over the next 5 years switching jobs 3 times.

[Emma]

Congrats on your success! Based on my background, I’d suggest building some side income, ideally passive, while staying put for now.

Employers cap what they’ll pay for your time, but if you escape the time-for-money trap, the cap on your earning potential is unlimited.

[Paul]

I think this loyalty thing has been mostly a myth for a very long time. At least in larger corporations / organizations.

I spent 30+ years in one big corporation but changed jobs on average every 3 years overall and often in as little as 18 months.

Changes included promotions within departments as well as cross functional, division, and geographic region.

Wage growth was more modest in the first half and kinda ridiculous in the second half.

After working across multiple functions and divisions, I kinda became uniquely diversified with pretty deep knowledge of the organization. That put me in fairly high demand.

I don’t see any of it as loyalty. I took chances moving into different areas, often as lateral moves, with no guarantees of having a lifeline back.

I did it to grow and diversify.

Rewards always followed.

[Lisa]

You are correct in that 99.1% of the time loyalty to a company does not pay off in terms of increasing your pay.

As a former HR professional and employee, I’ve seen both sides of it.

What I will say though is once you’ve found a position where you are competitively paid, think about your work environment, your boss, how you are treated, development opportunities, location, benefits, etc.

Of course, money is important, but once you reach a stage where you’re relatively happy with everything and are treated well, then maybe continuing to move doesn’t make AS much sense.

But of course, if any of that changes, then you can decide to move on.

Moving just for money’s sake isn’t always the right answer—look at the broader situation.

[Mona]

I’m a nurse and there is no loyalty in this job. Hospitals don’t do raises often and usually the new hires make more or the same as people who have been there.

There are sign on bonuses for some areas. But loyalty is dead.

Also, besides salary, a lot of hospitals pick who will work holidays not of seniority.

So, no benefit of staying in terms of having holidays off after staying for years.

[Kyle]

I have stayed at my company for twenty years for personal reasons but loyalty is a one way street.

The company will cut you replace in a second and slow play you salary in the meantime.

[Drew]

The only time loyalty was real was when pensions were still around. Once those were gone so was loyalty to any one company.

[Author]

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