Entrepreneurs often create new ventures after working as employees and gaining expertise in a certain industry for many years. Deciding to quit a job and start a new venture is a risky decision, as many new companies fail to achieve a profit. Staying at the same job for a long time instead of switching jobs or resigning to start a business can be beneficial in some ways and detrimental in others.

Reputation of Dependability

One of the advantages of having a job at the same company is that it builds a reputation of dependability. A worker who constantly switches jobs or starts new ventures may have difficulty getting jobs in the future, because employers have to invest resources to train a worker, and that investment is lost if the worker leaves the company.

Strong Work Relationships

Another benefit of working for the same company for a long time is that it allows for the creation of strong and long-lasting work relationships. If a worker switches jobs every couple of years, it may be difficult for them to form strong relationships that endure after they stop working. Strong work relationships in a certain industry can be vital to success in starting up a small business.  

Access to Special Job Benefits

Twenty years of working for the same company can allow workers to gain access to special job benefits that are reserved for long-time workers. For example, some employers offer pensions that require a certain amount of service. Similarly, some jobs are governed by seniority systems in which working longer grants access to better pay and benefits. As reported in the Harvard Business Review, staying longer with a company can help employees to access specialized jobs and long-term goals.

Finding the Right Fit

Early on in a career, switching jobs is common because it can take time to find a job that fits your interests and skills. Switching jobs a few times early on in a career can help workers find a career that they like enough to stick with for 10 or 20 years without getting burned out. Once the right job is found, the worker can stay with the organization for a longer period and climb the corporate ladder to gain senior management positions.  

Opportunities to Learn and Advance

Another benefit of switching jobs is that it can open doors to learn and advance in a career. Working up to higher pay and benefits within a company can take many years while switching jobs can allow workers to get significant increases in pay, benefits and responsibilities quickly. As reported in Forbes, staying employed in the same company for more than two years make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50 percent. Changing jobs also lets workers escape dead-end jobs and continue to learn and grow.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson

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