Jobs are like a second life. In this second life, you have work to do, you can have relationships, you can have good and bad “existences”. I’ve seen co-workers come and go in all different manners. Some people are squeezed out and their departure is no surprise, some leave suddenly, voluntarily or not. Some people you want to go and some you want to keep. And in every case of departure, as with a departure in the first life, there is some soul-searching and some situational evaluation. Very recently, some news was broken that one of our work family members was leaving. My reaction to the details of the departure was unlike others I had previously.
This person had come to us less than 6 months ago. He came from a job he disliked and he fit in with us very well. Moreover, he was a hard worker and had excellent skills. In my opinion, he was going to go far in our company. This all ended when he put in his two weeks notice. In IT, there’s always new opportunities and new challenges to take on. Developers are eager to apply their skills in a new environment, and many cases, fellow workers wish them well, because they understand the excitement of going off to tackle new problems and come up with great new solutions.
But not this time. This developer was going back to his old job. Why? Because they offered him a boatload of money. That’s the only reason, and it’s the only reason I need to write him off completely. He knows he’s going to have to work harder, because the dev team at his old job has mostly quit. He knows he’s going to have to sacrifice his personal time to be on call. He knows he’s going to be working with the same management he didn’t get along with before. For what? Money.
I can forgive job hopping for money when you’re in your 20’s and 30’s, because there’s lots more time to find the company that’s right for you and you should get good and bad experiences so you know what to look for. But this guy should be old enough (my age) to know a good thing when he sees it. But he sees nothing but money. He’s a whore. That designation fits very well since he’s commented about putting in a year and getting $x more. Giving up an incredible job at an incredible company to plan to leave another company in the lurch after a year after pocketing their generous offer. Don’t come back knocking when you’re done with that one.
I’m taking his decision very personally. In a sense, I feel like I’ve been used. Like I’ve been the best boyfriend/girlfriend ever, and six months in, was told, “You’ve been great, but I’m going back to my old boyfriend/girlfriend because they make more money.” “But they beat you!” “Yeah, but it’s not that bad, and I can buy nicer things.”
Money won’t buy you happiness, and I’m looking forward to the day he realizes that. I’ll give him about three months for the reality to settle in.
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