Internet Summons Pete to Jump Ship
Gale Cutler · Research-Technology Management · 2001
following hypothetical human resources problem has, like so many of its ilk, no correct answer. In order to help your colleagues deal with such a situation, please tell us how you would handle it. We'll print as many as space permits. Editor. Jacobs rushed into the cubicle he shared with his fellow software engineer at XYZ, and without pausing to say Good Morning, shouted have got a deal for you! Pete hurried on, I was on the Internet last nightreally just fooling around-and ran into a jobs site with an extensive listing of openings for software engineers. E-mailed them a resume, and before the night was over (I sure didn't get much sleep) had a job offer from a startup. And, get this, the salary is considerably above what XYZ is paying me. Despite the dot.com crash, they still expect to go public in the next few months and each employee will get stock. I'll have to move, of course, but I'm single and that won't be a problem. Now, Bill, the best part is that they are looking for at least one more software engineer and offered me a bonus if could give them a lead to one. You'd fit, Bill, and, of course, I'll split the bonus with you. I'm to get you to send them a resume this morning! Looks like a real chance for both of us to push our careers forward. Slow down, Pete, Bill replied. First of all, can't make a move that hastily. My wife has ajob and we have a great day care arrangement for our daughter. This new job sounds to me like you are heading into a very risky situation. Also, XYZ has been good to us-hired us right out of college when we had no real experience. XYZ has spent a lot of money training us-the last seminar they sent me to cost the company a bundle. think we both owe it some loyalty, and if we pull out on sudden notice, we certainly leave a couple of critical projects short on manpower! Loyalty Out of Date? Pete scoffed, company loyalty is an out-of-date notion. You can bet the company has no concern about loyalty to us. Remember when we hired on, they gave poor old Martin [see RTM, July-August, 2000, p. 59-60] the boot-to help make a spot for one of us, according to what I've been told. He had a lot of years in and the company wasn't loyal to him. first time XYZ decides to trim the R&D budget we'd be gone in a hurry-and what would that do to your concept of loyalty? Pete continued, The Internet is the best place for job hunting that most of us have ever experienced. competition for people with certain skills is a lot more fierce than any of us think. We got what we thought was a good job right out of college and we forget that there is a very active demand for certain types of skills. Searching the Internet certainly opened my eyes to the wealth of opportunities available out there. And I'm telling you that we are foolish not to grab a good opportunity when we see one! Bill shook his head sadly. …