[Headhunter13]

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Gone are the days of company-employee loyalty. It's amazing to fathom that lifetime employment with a company was almost the norm not too long ago.

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QFT. Anyone care to comment why this is? My understanding of it is employee loyalty went out the window when the first mass layoffs of the 80s began (with companies like IBM, etc.).

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I think it's a combination of the massive layoffs you referenced as well as competition. It used to be that you wouldn't "steal" an employee from a direct competitor. Now, anything and everything is fair game.

Also, companies recognize and value the importance of other viewpoints. Your company has an opening for VP Finance. Sure there is something to be said for "promoting from within" and all that, but the reality is that if you only promote from within, you will continue the same viewpoint/way of doing something. Today, companies would much rather hire a 15 year person who has been at 3 companies and can bring those 3 company perspectives with him/her rather than a 15 year person who has only been at one company. Of course it's a fine line because you don't want 10 jobs in 15 years because then you look like a job-hopper.

Whatever the reason(s), people like Tuq and me are thrilled that gone are the days of retiring from X company with a gold watch after 30 years of service.

Just my $.02

--Headhunter