I’ve noticed this trend: older, more tenured employees aren’t leaving on their own however young people seem to get out of here fast. Very few make it to 2 years. I realize the younger generations are prone to job hopping so some of this is expected but a lot of it is based on their desire to get away from the toxic environment. So why do tenured employees stay? Too close to retirement? Waiting for severance? Afraid of looking for a job elsewhere?
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'Old' Fiserv guy here. I say that and still learn something new every day. If you haven't noticed already, the corporate environment is like watching the news - one disaster after the next. When you realize it's just SSDD, you let the small stuff go. Today's mandate is tomorrows afterthought. Work in office, Work from home, Back to office, Get your shots, Shots no longer required, Sapience is your friend, Sapience caused more problems that it fixed and on-and-on. Every day is it's own challenge. Focus on what you can do instead of what you have no control over. The company can fire people, but they can't take your integrity, experience, education, etc. And lastly - "Expect the best but plan for the worst."
There is a flip side to sticking around. If you leave you can still imagine how great the product you were working on is doing. If you stay, you might get to watch management throw it in the trash and discontinue the product. All of your team's effort, straight into the trash. The company is the true owner and they can discontinue any product if they choose to. And by still being employed, you get a front row seat.
@c8 You must be original FD or just started in the last 5 or 6 years. Let people vent if they want to.
The closer one is to retirement, the less they want to change jobs.
I was only mildly annoyed with my job, but figured I could handle the hassle until I retired. That's what really blows my mind about management. Even in a good job market, most people don't want to leave and will accept a nominal amount of abuse because (1) at least it's a known thing and (2) it's just a hassle to pull up stakes and move on. In other words, employers don't have to dote on employees, just don't abuse them too much. That's it. That's the secret sauce.
it was finally too much for me and I moved on. The pay difference was nominal. The decrease in hours was absolutely shocking. For the first six months, I thought I was cheating the company.
Anyway, my current employer has its set of annoyances, but they're far more manageable and easily handled until I call it quits for good.
@ca Totally agree on this. Older generation had a great degree of professionalism and some kind of 'attachment' to their work. They want to create something and see it work and helping lots of people in production. I did the same.. my work is still in place helping several millions of billpay end users.. gives me immense happiness that money doesn't give.
Some of the older people stayed for the reason they got older, have health issues, have families, have mortgages, etc. The job market had a brief rebound right after covid reduced and the world opened up again. Those that could hop right away did, those that were a little more cautious left not long after. Those who have been bitten before stuck around a little longer and watched the bottom drop out and most of the people that bounced got bounced. They ended up without a job, or a very long and arduous job hunt (sometimes a bit of both). By sticking around as things thinned to the bone, it was a little easier to not get laid off. So it was safer to stay, than hop and hope for a new role. You'd keep looking but the roles are in short supply, and the hoops to jump through to get them are crazy... so its just safer to stay and keep your ear to the ground looking for something new. Hopefully you found something before your number came up. Some of us got drummed out before that happened, at least sticking around built up more of a severance giving you a little more road to finding a new role somewhere else. Those of us a little older also had to have specific things to move into a new role, like needing medical asap. Finding a new role that is contract only isnt super helpful unless you're desperate.
In my case my severance is going to be enough to pay off the last few months of my mortgage and car notes, while giving me enough to live on for about another 4 months beyond that without touching my savings. So in that respect it was better to get laid off then just walk away or take a cr-p job just to get out. In the end I won't need as much money in a new role, which also means I don't need to find something as stressful.
In short, it depends. Tenured employees are older employees who have built up a different profile of things in life affecting their priorities.
@c8 I agree with your words but folk who stay on are folks who are the founders of a homegrown solution and want to see something flourish. It's a sense of pride in your work. If you a developer you can understand. If you a bug fixer then I get it. But those 5yr or more are wanting to make sure they built the right thing. Called validation speaking from soft dev side of the house .
Lots of anger on here that seems unnecessary. Tone it down a notch.
But honestly I don't think showing loyalty to an employer is something to be proud of like an achievement. That is how you get taken advantage of. Your loyalty should be to yourself only.
Sounds like you already know that though or you wouldn't have reacted that way to an anonymous message board post.
This place isn't worth getting so stressed and angry about. There are much better employers out there.
Its fear. Staying if you have less than five years to retirement is justifiably to yourself. But thats along time to endure "in office culture". Somebody with two kids and bills might need a steady pay cheque. But is Fiserv really steady with their cut and burn culture?
Old employees waiting to be released so they can collect a maximum of 26 weeks pay based in thirteen years of service. Young employees know Fiserv is pt the employer of the future.
My job was easy for me and I had a great group of people to work with.
But then Fiserv made my job unnecessarily hard, and got rid of my coworkers. Then the job really su-ked.
Golden Handcuffs.
Younger people should not plan to stay employed there..not healthy for your future…of course the older tenured people want to make it to retirement and/severance..