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> I think you need time to grow and that doesn’t mean chasing salary for your entire life. It’s important to settle somewhere for a while and learn/grow.

While it is indeed important to find a place where one can settle and grow, it’s crucial to recognise that the concept of personal and professional development has evolved significantly, particularly among younger generations. The meaning of "settle" has changed a lot.

Today many professionals view career growth through a different lens. For them, personal development often involves seeking new challenges, acquiring diverse skills, and gaining varied experiences, which sometimes necessitates moving between jobs. While salary is a factor in these decisions, it’s not always the most influential one.

A significant concern for many young talents is the lack of meritocratic promotion structures in many organizations. They often find themselves in environments where hierarchical seniority is valued over actual competence and performance. This can be particularly frustrating when they have to report to or work with less competent senior team members, which can stifle their growth and innovation.

Furthermore, the workplace culture plays a crucial role. Toxic environments, where outdated practices and rigid hierarchies prevail, are unappealing to young professionals who value collaboration, transparency, and inclusivity. This disparity in expectations and experiences is driving many talented individuals to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

The result of an outdated work concept, which is still encountered too frequently, is that one often ends up dealing with superiors who have grown within the company’s hierarchy (they are “settled”), possessing authority but not corresponding technical skills or respect in the eyes of their subordinates.

In the future, as the younger generation enters the workforce, this will become increasingly less acceptable.

While settling down to grow is a valuable approach, it’s equally important to understand that growth, for many professionals today, involves finding environments that foster learning, respect competence, and provide clear, merit-based paths for advancement.