I am coining the term Tech-Jumpers to mean the following: The emerging phenomenon of the last few years wherein employees in tech companies ‘jump’ jobs like it were nothing. This year Amazon, next year Microsoft, the following Google and then Facebook, and the journey continues.

It used to be employers and employees took pride in creating a culture of sustainability and longevity. Now it seems that the employees are cool with this and employers don’t seem to care. If you look at the total number of people leaving Amazon after one year of employment (in order to keep their first 1/2 of their 2 year sign on bonus) the numbers are very high…. And the same for the others as well.

What is unfortunate is that a technical resource becomes fully trained after a year and to spend all the money and time and to lose this great talent, in the long term, is very costly for the company. Secondly, what is the emerging ‘culture’ of the tech-jumper companies?

How will tech-jumpers shape the future culture of large tech companies? Are we evolving into a job-as-a-service, contract based employment, where employees will not be on staff and company cultures will disappear?  I believe that long term companies will suffer immensely by not having strong employee cultures. My first decade at a great think tank, BBN in Cambridge MA, was an amazing experience and I learned so much.  Where does learning and mentoring fit in a jumper-culture?