Found out the average person changes careers 12 times now. That blew my mind.

Saw that stat in a Bureau of Labor report from 2023. Back when I started in the late 90s, the idea was you pick one path and stick with it for 30 years. My dad worked at the same factory for 37 years. I'm on my 4th career shift at 48 and felt behind. Guess that's just normal now. Anyone else's timeline look way different than they expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

coleman.gray22d agoMost Upvoted

Funny you mention that, because I've noticed this same pattern playing out in smaller ways too. People I know are switching grocery stores every few months, swapping phone carriers, even changing which coffee shop they go to like it's a hobby. It's like the whole idea of loyalty to anything (jobs, products, places) just evaporated somewhere around 2015 or so. Maybe it's the internet showing us all the other options all the time, or maybe we just got tired of settling.

lopez.quinn22d ago

Isn't it weird how we remember 2015 as this big turning point, though? I feel like brand loyalty was already fading before then, especially with groceries and phones. People were hopping between T-Mobile and Verizon around 2012, and Aldi started grabbing customers from traditional stores even earlier. I think the real shift is more about convenience and price transparency now. You can compare everything in two minutes on your phone, so why bother sticking with one place unless they give you a real reason to stay?

felix_black22d ago

Walmart tried to get me signed up for their credit card thing seven times last year alone, and now they wonder why I just drive past them to Aldi. It's like these companies spent decades building up trust and then just threw it all away for a quick buck. Maybe loyalty died because we finally realized most of these places don't give a damn about us, they just want our data and our money.