You’re too expensive
If you’ve been in your job 10 years, you’re too expensive. For the company. I don’t mean that you personally aren’t worth the money you’re making. I mean that you aren’t worth it to the company. Think about it. You were hired with (presumably) enough skills to do the job you’re doing. You’ve gotten regular raises–again, presumably. Your skills might have increased as well. BUT YOU HAD ENOUGH SKILLS TO DO THE JOB WHEN YOU WERE HIRED. So what is the added value for the company? Whether they admit it or not (and it is mostly not), companies lay off employees who have been with the company for a long time in the same job. Then they hire employees at entry level prices. Companies may or may not hire younger people. It really doesn’t matter. They hire cheaper.
They put you out on the street.
And what do you have to sell to your next employer? That’s the key for both of these situations. You need to figure out how to add value to the organization that is at least commensurate with your increased income, and you need to figure out how to add saleable skills to yourself so that when (and I don’t really believe it is ‘if ‘ for most of us) you are put out, you land on your feet in a better situation, and if you’re smart you see it coming and land first.
I’m a major believer in managing your own career and not relying on your company to do that for you. You certainly may have a manager, or a series of managers, who really believe in developing people and creating situations that allow them to succeed in their career. Count your self blessed, but year after year, your chances of keeping this kind of boss are slim. YOU need to manage your career. You need to put yourself into situations where you are continuing to grow and develop and move up the organization, so that when it comes time to put people out on the street it never occurs to anyone to come after you.
Think about it from the company’s perspective–what are you adding over and above what they hired you for that make you worth more to the company?
Jo McDermott 
I have also seen that organizations grow and mature, and what was good job performance for a certain role or level 10 years ago is barely adequate today. Long-tenured people sometimes get caught off guard when they realize the bar has been raised and they haven’t necessarily raised their level of performance along with it. This is only more reason to do as you’ve suggested Jo and take charge of one’s career, skill development and future.
And it’s so much more fund when you do it!
Thanks.
So let me start this comment with — I’ve never been in the same job for more than 10 Years….so my qualifications for comment are immediately denounce-able.
The position posed (I think) is if you haven’t taken (been given) opportunities for broader responsibility or specialization, and only festered in the same job for 10 years (more or less), your categorized as noncompetitive, expensive and ripe for the restructuring platter.
A provocative position and certainly raises a plethora of “component discussions” — however, where the facts and circumstances vary widely, they boil down to the same fundamentals, Your organizational presence and relevance. Understanding your role, perspective, contribution in the context of your organizational goals, are key to positioning your value. So know what you do, and learn why you do it.
However, my reason for comment is about general relevance of the concept.
I would posit — “If you are in the same job you were in 10 years ago, then you probably work for Blackberry.”
If your organization isn’t demanding you change in the context of the insanely shifting market demands of the 2010’s and in the wake of the great recession, then jump ship, now. Your going up in flames!
A privileged response I hear you say. Adapt or fail to meet your next mortgage payment is the retort.
About that, loyalty, commitment, tenure, and experience thing. There are a few great examples left where time on the job, intuitive understanding of your customer’s needs, immediate recognition of the complexity of the supply chain, in-depth understanding of the cost model and cost competitiveness, and long standing customer relationships, All contribute to creating value. And that value grows as your experience grows (and your hairline recedes).
But the president of the United States gets 8 years not 10 to “fully mature” in that role.
HaHa Iain. I especially like how you pose both sides of the argument–mine and yours. You’re pretty much right about mine. I think a company that doesn’t push/drive/challenge itself and its employees to the next level is, well, on its way out.
Employees can’t count on employers to provide the motivation and need to drive themselves. It doesn’t hurt to look for a company that DOES motivate too. Know one?
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