Office Dinosaurs Meet Job Hoppers

Aug 27 , 2022
By Carolyn Kissane

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It is fascinating how some people stay at a single company for years, and in some cases decades.

How is it possible to be doing the same thing every day, without getting bored or wanting to change? How do people that do manual, repetitive work every day manage?

The majority of people find themselves doing something they would not be doing had they not needed the money. Some enjoy what they do but also appreciate the financial compensation that comes with it. There is a small number of people who just do what they love despite earning very little from it.

All my life, with very few exceptions, I worked as a freelancer and I have enjoyed the freedom that comes with it. It also provided me with the right balance between work and other things that matter to me, like family and social engagements.

It is true that being a permanent employee has lots of benefits, especially the safety that whatever the performance, the proverbial check is mailed every month. It could be tempting. But at the end of the day, it means that big chunks of our lives are spent on work, especially the sort that demands we work more than eight hours a day.

Everyone is different; some people tend to like the stability and comfort that comes with knowing exactly what they do and how to do it. Some think perfecting an ability takes time and they disagree, saying that they are crafting their skills and learning new things daily.

"My job doesn’t suck as much as you think," they would say.

It is a good thing we have those kinds of people, otherwise, imagine how disrupted the services we rely on day-to-day would have been, like banking, for instance.

I met this man the other day. He had been working in an organisation for three decades. I was speechless. He gave me a grin and said, “when I started the job, I was like you."

"I said I'd stay here for a maximum of two years and here I am, almost waiting for my retirement," he continued. "When I was starting out at the company, a senior told me this place will get you hooked. And It did. I stayed all these years because I was comfortable and I did not really want to step out of my comfort zone. Everything was stable and predictable.”

Now, he cannot imagine working at another company unless it is his own. I could tell that the man was content with his work. It was the kind of contentment one feels when they feel comfortable with the type of cards they have been dealt. It was not the other kind, where they are merely satisfied with what they do.

But, if we are not careful, and depending on the organisation, staying in one place doing the same thing for years could kill our creativity and hold us back from thriving. There has to be some kind of change no matter how small. And the change should include an actual modification of the job at hand, not just promotion or salary increments.

The opposite has a disadvantage too. Moving from job to job on a regular basis keeps us from knowing the job well and hinders our experience. It seems fun as it does not require long-term commitment, but if we want to become an expert, we have to dedicate our time and energy to a specific task. Both extremes have their disadvantages. Finding the right balance between perfecting skills and dull routine tasks out of fear of stepping out of our comfort zone is wise.

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PUBLISHED ON Aug 27,2022 [ VOL 23 , NO 1165]

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