[adchurch]

Author here, great to see all the conversation & thoughts you all have shared so far!

One thing I've seen a lot of people saying: hiring juniors isn't worth it because they'll just leave for more money in a couple years.

I got hired with 0 experience for my first job and stayed for 3.5 years (I left when I decided to start my own company). I was otherwise never tempted to leave because I got all the support and growth opportunities I could have hoped for, and I always felt fairly compensated.

So based on my own experience, it's possible for a company to treat people well enough that they won't just leave. I do think software companies tend to be bad at this specific thing though - I'd imagine many have had an experience unlike my own.

[0rdinal]

From my experience, junior's tend to churn out after around three years. There are often factors that go beyond whether they felt they were treated well. Looking at it holistically, younger people tend to want to move around more. It is no surprise to me that the average tenure of a junior employee is about the same length as a degree - separating life stages in to 1-3 year periods is a mindset embedded into young people throughout their education.

I would wager that perception plays heavily into this too. It can be difficult to shake a perception of "being a junior", especially when the path to seniority is unclear or poorly defined. Plus, the "two years and disappear" ethos of job hopping for quicker compensation capitalises on companies' conservative promotion criteria (and more liberal hiring criteria). Loyalty is rarely rewarded in these cases.

[jimbokun]

Also, as the unemployment rate for CS grads goes up, they are probably less likely to leave than in the past.