As A Software Developer Myself, I Know How Staying In One Job For Years Can Make A Huge Difference In How Much You Earn.
Those who stay in a company for more than two years earn 50% less in their career. Software engineers are highly paid, But if they don’t have enough job changes, they lose the opportunity to make money.
Software engineers stay in one job for an average of 2 years and then change positions. They work at the same company for less than half the average tenure of 4.2 years.
However, it is not that simple to be able to make career changes whenever you like. Leaving early can also negatively affect your resume; Therefore, you need to stay in your job to ensure you get what you want.
Let’s look at how long software engineers stay in one job and see how large companies compare in terms of talent retention.
How long do software engineers stay in one job?
About 50% of software engineers stay in a company for only two years. The average tenure is 4.2 years. Therefore, software engineers spend half of that time in one place. Usually, the bigger the company, the longer the developer stays in the position.
Hackerlife did fantastic research on the average tenure of software developers in the San Francisco area. These data apply to most major cities but may not be relevant to regional or local labor markets.
The average salary increase for most employees is 3% per year. This pales compared to the 14.8 percent increase in wages that people receive on average when they change jobs. It’s easy to see how switching a few companies throughout your career can bring a lot of money into your life in the future. This is probably one of the reasons why software engineers, on average, retire earlier than others.
FAANG Companies (Technology Giants)
FAANG technology group refers to the companies Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. However, Google and Facebook have changed their names to Alphabet and Meta.
Among this group, software engineers stay at Netflix the longest, three years on average. Apple had the worst labor retention rate; Software engineers spent an average of only 1.9 years there.
The work at these companies is usually very demanding, and developers are expected to put in more hours than at smaller businesses. Many people use these opportunities to get huge salaries and name recognition, and after a few years of work, they are easily attracted to management positions in smaller companies.
Leaving the job early
While making frequent career changes for a pay raise can be tempting, overdoing it can hurt your career. In your first five years as a developer, stick with one business for at least two years. This is important for your resume and shows that you have had enough time to master the responsibilities assigned to you.
After a few years of experience, you can look for more income and change jobs every 12-18 months.
Avoid working with companies for short periods of 6 months. This does not look good on your record. If the hiring manager thinks you’ll leave the company in less than a year, they’ll hesitate to hire you.
In general, try not to exceed the number of companies you have worked for. Therefore, five jobs in 4 years are not ideal; for example, three positions in 5 years seem excellent.
Work experience
Whatever you start, you will go through several specific stages for two years. Your job changes should not happen too soon; Otherwise, you’ll miss out on much-needed experiences that can help you along the way. These steps are as follows:
- Learning and adaptation – 3 to 6 months – getting to know the new company, team, and processes.
- Creating value for the organization – 6-12 months – Add value to the business by becoming an active team member.
- Becoming an expert at work – 6 to 18 months – fully mastering the job and participating in shaping the team’s direction.
Depending on your experience, settling in and being productive at a new company takes about 3-6 months. You start adding value from the second six months onward. You will then master your work and be able to define processes that help improve things further.
How long software engineers stay in one position depends mainly on what they want from each of the above steps. Also, the duration of getting to know job positions is different for everyone. Mastering a situation is a beautiful experience that will benefit you in the long run.
Conclusion
Knowing how long to stay on a job is critical to your career advancement as a software engineer. Most developers remain in their position for an average of 2 years, when they can fully master their assigned tasks. After that, they either have to look for a promotion or change jobs for more money.
Note that working with companies for a long time means you will probably earn less in your career; On the other hand, with early job changes, you cannot get the necessary experience that will be useful to you later.
To make career changes, all aspects must be considered, and only you know when you have reached the end of your tenure in a particular job.