Job Hoppin’

In the past I’ve watched designers hop from company to company every other year and thought to myself: Wow, what on earth are they doing? How can they possibly learn anything, how can they contribute anything meaningful to an organization if they’re stuck in an endless cycle of quitting and starting over again?

This, I realize now, is 1. dumb and 2. cruel.

It’s anti-worker and anti-union and it takes away people’s autonomy to chase a healthy work environment. Companies are allowed (and expected!) to pivot when their business model doesn’t work and yet workers are not granted the same privilege when they find themselves at a gig that’s underpaying them or putting them on useless busy work or hurling them into a toxic work environment. Also, tech companies tend to change their roadmaps and do fifteen stupid re-orgs in a year, so who cares if an employee keeps looking for good work in a sea of absolute garbage decision making?

These old beliefs of mine scare me a bit now because it’s clearly pro-corp propaganda that’s seeped in and poisoned my view of the world. It’s punching down on vulnerable folks who deserve better than my snark and momentary cruelty.

So screw what it looks like on your resume and screw designers like me who put up with bullshit for years before looking for another gig. Screw your boss and your coworkers and screw any relationship that’s toxic. You owe them nothing because that’s what the money is for. Your company is not a family, you are not letting anyone down. Every moment spent accepting shitty behavior and shitty work is another moment where you’ve sacrificed your safety and happiness. And, quite frankly, screw that.

So for myself and for those in the back, lemme say this louder:

HOP EVERY JOB AND RELATIONSHIP THAT SUCKS.

HOP THAT JOB.