Switching jobs or staying put? In 2026, both can be right

Grandpa, 79, retired

I worked thirty-four years at the same plant. When I retired they gave me a watch with my name on the back, and I still get a pension cheque every month.

Loyalty went both ways back then. You gave them your best years, they gave you security for the rest of your life. A man who changed jobs every two years was a man nobody trusted.

Mom, 54

I have been at the same insurance company for twenty-two years. My raises were never exciting, but they came every year, and when my husband was sick they gave me time off without a question.

My daughter has had three employers in four years. Every time she leaves I lie awake thinking: what will the next employer think when they see that résumé? What happens when the economy turns and she is the newest person in the building?

Daughter, 26

Nobody in my office has a pension. In my first job I watched them lay off people with fifteen years of service on a Tuesday afternoon. Loyalty is not a deal anyone is offering me.

Every move I made came with a raise I could not have gotten by staying. That is not me being flaky. For people my age, the data says switching is still how you get paid. I just wish Mom could see it as a strategy instead of a warning sign.