Would you hire me for a job?

~ Hetty Eliot
A rotating thinking emoji.

Don’t answer that. Anyways, this is something I’m very much interested in hearing people’s varied feedback on.

At work, I’m marginally involved in hiring. I’m not a manager so I do not directly hire (and have zero desire to ever do so–I don’t want to be blamed for the stinkers), but I do review applications when I’m bored.

(For those of you who don’t know, I’m an administrative assistant in a department store. Basically, I spend the day bending over for anyone who wants to take their rotten life out on me.)

Anyways, the applications I review are not exactly… inspiring. I mean, it’s retail. Most people who have significant experience don’t apply to these jobs. I can’t fault them for that. When I was hired almost eleven years ago, there were still a lot of people floating around who had been laid off in professional industries, so they were able to hire overqualified people desperate for jobs. But the hiring situation is quite different right now. It’s nearly impossible to hire qualified people. I’m not trying to demean anybody, but it’s just not great.

When I scroll through resumes (if the applicant bothered to upload one), if I see multiple jobs that they spent a year or less at, I reject. I can’t be bothered to invest my time training a job hopper. Or, it tells me that there is some personal flaw keeping them from maintaining steady employment.

But what I’m hearing now is that job-hopping is apparently desirable nowadays. In the area I’m in, I don’t think this applies. Moving rapidly from low-level job to low-level job is not a good sign. I am speaking more broadly than solely about the specific employment sector I’m in. Generally, from what I am told, it seems that being a long-term employee is seen as a negative. It is interpreted to mean that you have no ability to increase your skill set.

I was taught that long-term employment indicates loyalty and stability. (Loyalty–lol. Where’d that get me?) But not anymore. I hear this and think, I’ve been at this piece of crap place for almost eleven years, what does that say about me? No, it’s true I’m not ambitious at all. That was beaten out of me a long time ago. I’m happy to play second fiddle if I can retain control over my mind and my desk.

Is ambition always such a great thing? Like the song goes, doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore? Don’t the ambitious people need to hire their own second fiddler?

From the perspective of the business (which I do not run and for good reason–I have a soul–so I am probably wrong), it doesn’t make sense to look down at a stable employee. How else do you learn all the intricacies of policies, software, and personalities except through time and experience? Doesn’t a boss like having someone who can anticipate their every stupid mood and sacrifice themselves to absorb the wrath that would otherwise be directed at everyone else?

The point I am trying to make is that there must be some value to be found in a stable employee as opposed to one seeking continual promotion. Perhaps having seen so many come in and out through the revolving door, and knowing that they view the position as only a stepping-stone to go somewhere better that has new carpeting, I view the ambitious with skepticism. They don’t care about the well-being of the store and the people who work within it–they only care about making themselves look good on paper. I have found that the people who have that slick corporate look, who know all the right things to say, are the laziest and most incompetent.

I’ve only been on one interview in my life–any other position or minor promotions I have received were simply offered for me to take or leave. I don’t know how I’d even behave in a new workplace–I’d probably be like a child raised by wolves!

In other words, I’m highly clueless about what people look for when they’re hiring someone, and I’m curious if you think long-term employment is a bad sign on a resume.

66 thoughts on “Would you hire me for a job?”

  1. I think that in certain fields long employment is telling about the applicant. In my hometown, the average burnout rate was 8 months for my company. I lasted 15 1/2 years. I started a new job remotely this week, I lasted 7 days because I am not interested in a company that doesn’t respect my boundaries. It also depends on the area and the age of the applicant. I grew up in a tourist area, and it was not uncommon to have a different job during the summer, the winter, and the school year. In New Hampshire, it was not uncommon to see high school students and college students with very varied resumes because of seasonal work and oh, you show up for your shift and the company has pulled up stakes.

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    1. All of this makes perfect sense. The thing is, do company hiring managers have the insight to recognize all of this common sense? What’s odd to me is how they just hire anyone who fits a certain image. I am speaking mainly of jobs higher than entry-level minimum wage stuff. (Btw I’m not one of those people who look down on adults doing minimum wage work–so many people are trapped just trying to keep their head above water.) I would love to show up for work and see the company’s gone.

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      1. It was so unsettling as the assistant manager of a big chain when I was pregnant with my daughter to show up and they had left. New England has had many companies just lock up and leave. I think their is truth to there is certain image that gets hired. On the issue of common sense. my husband (who is 2 decades older than I am) debate this all the time. I think the very defintion of common sense has changed because of the dependence on techology.

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  2. Given that the recession is happening, you might find a lot more people who have been recently cut.

    I can’t speak for every field, but generally in programming, I’ve observed that programmers try to find a company which would let them actually do their job, instead of bogging them down with meetings or abusive managers. The companies themselves never increase the salary to a satisfactory level, so when they apply to a new company with their experience, they can already ask for higher salary than what they will get with their old company.

    As for the loyalty, honestly, that concept is dead in my opinion. You work for a significant part of your life working at a company, and at the end, you just get a gift basket, rotten fruits, or some gift card as a return does not give me any reason to invest that time of my life in a company which won’t value me at all at the end of my work life.

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    1. See, you’re onto something with the salary thing. Because I’m an idealistic loser, I’ve always prioritized hard work and loyalty foolishly thinking I’d be rewarded someday. I think that’s how I got so behind everyone else. I must have been raised in a bubble. It’s like when I went to grad school. I thought I was there to study and become a scholar. Instead, I discovered it was all politics and who you knew.

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  3. Longest I’ve ever stayed in one job is four years. I get bored and as I get older I’m getting bored quicker. Now I’m in my 50s it’s risky to change, I’m getting to the unemployable stage of life. Only good thing is I keep getting job offers from previous employers, so going back is always an option … though perhaps not a good choice

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    1. Oddly enough, I’m not bored. I would actually prefer to be more bored, believe it or not. I don’t like change and anxiety–I like knowing exactly how my day will go, make my plans, and carry them out. Sometimes I think that if I were smarter, I’d know that I ought to be bored. My personal time at home is more important to me, though perhaps if I had a job that engaged me, I’d feel differently.

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  5. I think the expectation of a company “taking care of” it’s employees is long gone. I worked for one of the Bell subsidiaries for 30 years and I think I am in that last group of people where that was true. But no longer. Because of that shift, maybe what you’re seeing is that most people have job records showing a series of shorter-term employment which is not necessarily their fault.
    My other thought was, is it true (or not) that working retail is pretty much the same everywhere you go, and a person holding several retail jobs at different companies can be said to be very qualified?
    I’m very interested to see what the other comments say about this.

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    1. There’s a big difference between retail at the ground level and then corporate level. Ground level is all the same… I don’t want to be mean, but I’m sure you’ve shopped in a store before…. It’s not like the olden days where salespeople made a good buck and gave a damn. I find that more jobs = less qualified somehow. Because they care so little and then get fired. Corporate, on the other hand, is extremely ugly and ruthless. That’s where all the image and resume crap come into play. Sometimes you need to even leave the company and then come back at a higher level because there’s no ladder in between.

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  6. Interesting. I think it is important to know the reason for leaving – for example if a company downsized. I think a bit of loyalty at the employee level is good, but no employer is loyal when they need to cut staff.

    I think it is great to be able to work at a company for a long time, but I have always been in a position when company restructure or downsize. But that is my person view point

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    1. I give more leeway to people’s reasons for leaving than the hiring managers do. There are so many legitimate reasons why a person might have to go. It’s more when I see a long string of short stints that’s a red flag to me.

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  7. One interview!? You’ll be eaten alive if you ever have to go looking…

    Given my broad assumption of your sector, I’d guess that “imagination/creativity/problem solving” are not part of the job description (for any of those jobs). Other attributes like dependable, neutral stance on contentious subjects, communicative, locally based (low travel), body-temperature ~98.6, can lift <= 40 pounds, might be more applicable.

    Maybe the most important for a retail front room, 1/2 front 1/2 back room, would be the conversation the interviewer has with them. Do they come across friendly? Are their answers open and verbose? Some terse, yes/no person who volunteers few details on questions sounds like me, and I'm definitely NOT a retail person. Basically, would you chat with them on your lunch break?

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    1. You had it right with the body temp requirement, that’s about it. Generation Z are the only people who apply for these types of jobs. A business would be better off just closing than hiring these children. That’s a whole other post–what the hell is wrong with this generation. They don’t even seem quite fully human (cf. TikTok).

      Not only have I only been on one interview, but they didn’t even want to hire me! They thought I was too quiet and only took me because they needed a body. I’m still there and they’re not, for whatever that’s worth… probably not much.

      I’m so out of touch with these matters.

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      1. I got interviewed by Radio Shack one time and the girl asked me did I handle pressure and disputes. I said Okay, I’m me and you’re Billy Joel and his manager and his $6,000 AI digital piano that I’m responsible for is fritzed, there’s nothing in the warehouse to replace it and he’s due on Broadway tomorrow night. I’m still here. What’s that tell you? I didn’t need the job but I saw the blurb in a trade rag and thought, this will enhance my interview skills. What I learned is most interviewers are idiots.

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          1. True story, true event. Why, when I say some people aren’t ready for the alligator, I mean it. Herbie Hancock. Manager calls. Supposed to play center court halftime at Madison Square Garden. Tomorrow night. Hates the piano. Can I get him one? With the sounds you put in it? Those guys? Let’s fart around and get it almost right. Not. When the red light is on almost isn’t In The equation. Those people’s management eat alligators for breakfast and don’t bother to spit out the chunks.

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  8. Somehow, I had a unique enough “a – vocation”, I was curious to a fault and had a “C’mon, turn it up” personality that I got hired because I was the only one of me. Like Tigger. As a result, I got a LOT of on-the-job education from people who were at the top of their fields. Over time and getting the fuck out of Oklahoma I eventually ended up with a slew of jobs from rep for half the planet to running a chain of 19 music stores. Training, hiring, no prisoners, no pussies, no clowns, running a distribution warehouse and a pro store to boot. Would I hire you? Sure. You could do a lot of things if your gig was explicit, and the bullshit factor dropped to the floor. I didn’t do bullshit, or allow bullshit. Figure out how to get along or beat it. And that was like herding cats dealing with musicians of all calibers, ages, races, genders and enthusiasm levels across half the country. I still got them to blow the numbers out of the water.
    Now? Forget the resume. I can do every time management, sales, or marketing seminar you’ve ever seen, in under three minutes. If you get it, you get it. If not, I can turn it into three days. Otherwise, I’m the dependable geezer.

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    1. It seems to me that these are things of a bygone era. Not only is everything so specialized, the people doing the hiring aren’t intelligent enough to see how certain personal skills or traits could apply to anything. And no one cares to take the time to teach anybody something. Teachable is more important than what’s on paper in my opinion. Now that I think about it, I technically had assistant jobs in college and grad school. College I did well, but in graduate school, I had…. an incident. An incident which taught me not to do bullshit at work. I never give anybody a hard time who can squash me in a second.

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  9. I’ve been wondering for a while what’s going on in the job market. I thought the great resignation was about people quitting service jobs to get cushy office jobs but my office and most others I gave contact with can’t seem to find anyone. Did a bunch of people retire early during covid? I’m no expert by any means but I can’t remember a time before when unemployment was low and there were also tons of jobs that couldn’t be filled.

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    1. I know, where the hell did everyone go and how do I get to do it too?? No one applies for anything, and more often than not, when do hire someone, they do the “ghosting” thing you’ve probably read about it. Which I don’t understand at all. Why go through all the trouble of training just to never show up again? I have actually had people disappear during training! I’ll go to check on them to see how they’re doing and they’re gone! And they block the store’s number. It’s too weird.

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  10. I’ve only worked at one job over under two years and that’s because the company was going down the tubes fast. I never liked to interview or hire folks so I’d definitely look for someone who might stay around a while so yes.

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  11. For me as a hiring manager (granted, I’ve only hired once), it’s less about long-time at one employer vs. short stints at multiple, and more about what kind of experience they had. Specifically, in my industry/niche, the experience of working at a large company is completely different from the experience at a small company, so I pay very close attention to what experience they had was, what they got out of it, and whether it would be a good match for this particular company.

    As for me as a candidate, I recently did my first short-term job jump, leaving a job after 1 year and 2 months because I got another offer for considerably more money and growth potential. But even the def of short-term/long-term can be very industry/niche specific. People in my function tend to stay longer, but like, I feel like all the senior level marketing people are always changing jobs like changing socks and no one bats an eye. I guess it’s all the self-promotion. Anyway, we’ll see how this affects my careers long-term.

    I think the Great Resignation/Unemployment headlines are somewhat generalized and overblown. I think there’s a ton of variation and I don’t think all sectors/markets are experiencing this the same way. My industry function hasn’t changed at all.

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    1. The more senior people are, the more their companies are like personal playgrounds for them until they get tired of their toys and break them, only to move on to another. How else is it they CEOs run one company into the ground and then pop up shortly thereafter at some other company?
      I think a lot boils down to luck, who you know, and who’s interviewing. Some people don’t have enough of a brain to extrapolate from someone’s listed experience, or who can differentiate between a bad interviewee who would be good for the job and a lazy bullshitter who’s good at interviews.

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      1. I think there’s truth to this. I’d like to think I’m not as bad as the CEOs, but I’m not above job-hopping like all the senior marketing execs (sorry to marketers – I work with marketing a lot and I’m amazed and envious by their ability to get promoted all the time while no one cares about my function, so I tend to shit on marketing a lot) if I can. But I’d like to believe I’m better than the CEOs that drive the company into the ground. I’m not that powerful or important.

        I’m not completely incompetent at my job, but I’m really good at interviews. Damn, I feel shamed (deservingly) now!

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        1. No don’t feel shamed! A person can interview well AND be good at their job, too. It’s just that there’re stinkers out there who somehow manager to skate by. Like those senior exec people, they’re just good at playing the game.

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  12. Lol I’m super screwed then. My resume consists of one-year tenures, but they were pretty sizeable jumps in posts and responsibilities. I’ve been jobless for quite a bit now, and am thinking hard about my next career move—but now I know why I haven’t been getting callbacks 😛

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    1. I don’t think a variety of jobs is bad–it’s more when you see short stints of the same exact thing that you start to wonder why they work at one fast-food chain for six months and then at the fast-food chain next door to that one for six months, and so on. I can’t begin to guess why you wouldn’t hear back–from where I sit at work, I see all kinds of things that make zero sense as to who is hired and who isn’t. There’s nothing to be taken personally, I can tell you that much. Who knows what bullets you’ve dodged, too?

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  13. I am a dinosaur from the age where major companies like mine hired employees by the thousands during upswings. We did not have today’s technology so we screened resumes and applications for quick disqualifiers to narrow the field. Job hoppers and applicants with employment gaps were considered risky. Education was another screening device. It worked both ways. I remember an applicant who omitted his college degree because he was applying for a machinist job. Our benefits program was tied to retaining employees by vesting them and rewarding seniority. This backfired since we could not get rid of them when the world turned and demanded the skills of younger people.

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    1. Resumes don’t always give a full picture but there’s not much else to go by when deciding who to call. Old timers seem to be very resistant to change. I’m not old enough or have enough tenure to be considered a true “dinosaur” but I tend to fall into that camp. It’s hard for me to picture young people have any skills other than the ability to be on their phone twenty hours a day. On the other hand, sometimes with old timers it becomes a question of “will vs skill.” They don’t want to try to learn new things.

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  14. Thought-provoking post here Hetty. I read and intend to apply A Course in Miracles daily. So far, so good. One concept that the “author” explains: “What is an idol? More.”

    Ambitious people want more, establish idols and forget that being happy with the moment is bliss, peace, happiness and love. However, be prepared: when you feel whole and complete now, different experiences can and will come your way. Perhaps you receive promotions but only to serve and not to stroke the ego, or, to fulfill some personal desire. Going within makes one happy with what is and from there, everything is gravy.

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    1. Hi Ryan. I agree with you about the idol thing. I see so many people making their career the be-all-end-all, and for what? For money to buy things you can’t enjoy because you’re working fourteen hours a day? What’s the point of a nice house and yard if you’re never home? I don’t get it at all. I’d rather do the bare minimum and have my life to myself as much as possible, even if that means eschewing so-called luxuries.

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  16. I guess it is field specific. Being in academia, my field kind of has set ideas of how long you stay in a position. Grad school 5-6 years, postdoc in my field 2 if you want to transition industry, 4-6 if you want to stay in academia (okay if this is 2 different labs if you’re trying to switch your niche a bit), etc.

    But in general, I don’t think ambition is good for retention of an employee unless you make plenty of space for them to grow. And from what I’ve learned, most managers do not make that space. Maybe because it comes at the risk of them being replaced. Or maybe because they like to be in control. Who knows? But if that is the type of position it is, which many are, I think that leads to job hopping to be more common and accepted.

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    1. When I was in college and grad school (which disabused me of these ideas), I wanted to earn a PhD and be a tenured professor with a long career, settled down in some teaching school. The adventures of graduate school could be a blog unto itself. Maybe I’ll write about some of it sometime. At the time I went, older people weren’t moving much at all, but younger people were, unable to find tenure-track jobs anywhere. This is a tangent because it doesn’t really apply to your point, I sort of just went down memory lane. But yeah, most managers don’t make that space to grow within a company. In fact, sometimes you have to leave and then come back.

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  17. I’m involved in hiring sometimes – often it’s junior positions (software dev), so the candidate’s resume mostly shows school work and maybe some initial short forays into professional life. Not a lot of professional patterns to assess yet.

    I think I’d balk a bit as well, at somebody who demonstrates a clear pattern of moving on in intervals shorter than 6-12 months, but this would vary depending on the overhead involved in training them up. If you can get an employee up to speed in a week, maybe it’s not a big deal to soak that training downtime every few months… if it takes 2 months to get them to 100%, then that continuous churn would get expensive.

    I don’t think I’d have any issues really with considering experienced candidates whose time has been served mostly in one spot. That just depends on what they were doing and learning during that time. That characteristic, at least, demonstrates the *potential* for a long-term hire. That’s kind of important too. Otherwise, where do effective senior employees come from? I don’t think you can run a business entirely using a rotating cast of newbies, but maybe I’m wrong.

    One thing I think I would definitely do, if I were to interview an apparent job-hopper, is call them on it in the interview: “Why have you moved around so much?” Then just shut up and observe how they react to that question. If they get uncomfortable, that could be a red flag. But maybe they genuinely have little patience for working somewhere where the culture isn’t a perfect fit. Maybe they have a really good, valid vision of what it is they want to spend their time doing, and they aren’t willing to waste one precious day more than they have to looking for it.

    My nephew is kind of like that: he’s a good, smart, hard-working kid. But he also knows what he doesn’t want, and he’s quick to move on once he realizes he’s in a place like that. He learns something about himself, and looks for the next thing. I don’t think, given what I know about him, that I’d conclude this was any sort of problem. So maybe this younger generation just doesn’t want to fall into the trap of settling. It’s a short life.

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    1. It sounds like you’re a real astute interviewer and hiring manager. You look for all the things that I, at least, think are important, and are applying common sense to the matter. Some people just want to fill a job and move on, others want to promote friends, still others just want someone to make them look good. But I think it’s important to find someone who’s a good fit who can help the location out and also feel at home themselves. You don’t do someone any favors if the place isn’t right for them, either. They’ll just leave even if they are talented. Sadly, occasionally I meet someone I like so much that I don’t think it’s a good idea to hire them because it will kill their spirit to work there!

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      1. “Sadly, occasionally I meet someone I like so much that I don’t think it’s a good idea to hire them because it will kill their spirit to work there!”

        Oh no! That’s not a good sign. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you deserve working someplace better than that. Work can be hard to find though, so it’s a conundrum.

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  18. Until my recent semi retirement, I was the US Army’s research and development director for measurement sciences. This is a very specialized field of research that turns wonky atoms into sci-fi gee whiz stuff no one understands or ever learns to fully operate. I did all the hiring and firing of scientists, physicists, engineers, and technical support staff. The levels go from just out of college to 30 years of experience twiddling with a single atomic element teaching it how to do the boogie woogie before the Big Bang. Everyone on the planet has fallen for the over replicated internet guide to resumes and it’s a total fail. I’ve thrown 1000s of resumes in the trash after less than three seconds of review. I don’t have time to go through 100’s of resumes with a fine tooth comb looking for the golden qualification. If I have to search to see if a person is qualified, they go in the trash. It’s important to address the key job requirements up front and then elaborate in the body. In our field, longevity is important. A person with years of experience rarely blows up the building by making a rookie mistake. However, you can’t have a bunch of old people going senile on you or falling asleep in the neutron reactor. I need fresh intellectuals and here I look for relevance in their previous work and education. If they have a PHD in forestry, it’s a pass. The person must have a good grasp of fundamental science and engineering techniques and not be an ego maniac. I’ll pass on a know it all that can’t get along for a less qualified person who can get along and is eager to learn. If the applicant is a job hopper, I’ll ask questions. The resume only unlocks the potential for an interview and it’s the interview where I decide. I look for clues to how well this person will fit in and what they can contribute to the effort. Pay is always related to education level and direct relevance of skills to the job. Fast learners are a premium. I always look to hire young people looking for an opportunity to better themselves. A hungry employee is a good employee. If they are not hungry to grow and learn, they never work out. Since everyone is paid with taxpayer dollars, I try to get the best bang for the buck and that includes hiring people that are a good investment not a drain on the budget. When it doesn’t work out, I’m not doing a person any good holding on to them. I help them find their ideal spot and set them free to pursue it. I have noticed a very strange trend in the huge uptick in ghosters, soft quitters, and highly unqualified people applying while the highly qualified just aren’t out there. Of course this field is quite different than retail so the details are different. The common fail is very poor resume and interview skills and the worst of the worst are those using internet resume guides. That is certain death in highly competitive scientific programs.

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    1. Thanks for all this detailed info, it’s really quite interesting. It sounds like you take real responsibility when you hire someone. Some people just can’t be bothered or they hire people for all the wrong reasons. I’m glad to know there are people like you out there in the government who were doing things the right way. Nowadays it’s difficult to have faith in that, but that’s a whole ‘nother story…. There was a time when I was hungry to learn and advance, but right now I’m like a beaten dog, so I can’t really add value to a workplace. But maybe someday if things get better. I have vaguely heard of these resume services but I am unsure if I have encountered them. Mostly I see things that high school teachers probably instructed students to do (the same thing the teachers did years ago which don’t really apply any more: Objective: To earn a position in which I can utilize my skills…). I’m just super out of the loop, especially with regard to the kind of thing you’re talking about. Well, I have made mistakes and I am daily reminded of the need to remain humble. But regardless of the field, big or small, important or insignificant, the principles you describe here could apply to anything, provided a person had the brain to do so.

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      1. Hi Hetty, I see a lot of reality of the day in your experience with hiring and in the employee mindset. I’m quickly exiting that area of business process as my replacement, half my age, takes the reigns and spurs the old government mule into the future. To me, we all can’t be the star of the show. We have to have all kinds of people and personalities backstage making stuff work as best they can. There is nothing wrong with staying put and letting your knowledge and experience carry the day. But if you dream of something different that appeals to you, my SAS (Special Air Service, the father of all modern Special Forces) friends have a motto that reads, “Who Dares Wins” and it’s the truest words ever written. Everyone can dare to do some tiny thing that makes their or someone else’s day better or they can dare to do amazing things that change the course of history. What stops us is fear, failure, and judgement. When we conquer these three furies, we win…a lot. I already know you are a winner and a very capable person so my thoughts would be to look to your happiness and contentment and allow yourself to enjoy your life to your fullest. Of course, the beat downs and beat ups follow every successful person to the grave, but if you call yourself a winner, then you are and no one should be trying to change your mind about that. My favorite people at work are true national treasures, the best and brightest of the species, and humble, never feeling a desire to thump their chest and render their best Tarzan the Apeman scream to lord over the beasts of the corporate jungle. They simply impact the future lives of humankind without a peep and for far less money than they are worth.

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        1. Thanks for this. Humility is a virtue for people at all levels of the world. Once someone starts with the Tarzan scream they ought to drop all the way down and start over. Lessons of humility are only learned the hard way. I would know. One screw-up is all it takes. The brightest stars are the ones who don’t realize they are or who don’t think about it without a sense of responsibility.

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          1. Totally agree. I like the idea of making the Tarzan Screamers go back to level 1 and try again after a proper big boss monkey stomp. My youngest daughter walked away from her job after a year of sexual harassment, forced to work overtime without pay or any compensation, not allowed to take lunch breaks, and asked to lie or mislead the higher headquarters. I told her I could fix that very quickly but she wanted to deal with it on her own. She chose the high road and walked away from it all. I told her to just take some time to unwind and look for another job when she felt like it. She’s 31, but papa still don’t tolerate no fools messin’ with his daughter. The world is full of jackasses with jobs, but we don’t have to be one too.

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  19. I applied three times at my last company with the same resume. When they took me they’ve figured out that I was their groundskeepers wife so yes, connections definitely work. When we left last month we were astonished how many people knew us and were sad we were leaving. And it looks like they would take us back if we wanted to even though the staff turn-over there was quite huge. Well, I suspect nowadays the profit is more important than the loyalty of and for an employee. Even though I never understood how continuously training new people can be food for profits. But what do I know? And where are all the qualified people gone? To the Internet with their own small businesses, of course 😎

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    2. I think continually training new people is only profitable in the sense that you burn through minimum wage people who never stay long enough to get benefits and you get rid of the old-timers. Nope, nobody cares about loyalty anymore. Connections still count, but not the kind you had. Just the you scratch my back, I scratch yours type of crap.

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