
Ask HN: Is high turnover a valid reason to start looking around? - throwaway_ozzy
I have a job at a medium-sized technology company with offices in a few major Australian cities.<p>Recently we suffered from very high turnover, many developers left over the last 1.5 years and the new hires obviously needed time before they could become productive again, this resulted in a slowdown and in some cases axing of new projects. This is still happening, two developers left just over the last quarter.<p>I never questioned the health of the company before, on paper they have many long-term projects and they are not losing money (it&#x27;s an ASX listed company so the info is publicly available).<p>Do you think high turnover in itself is a sufficient reason to start thinking about moving?<p>Edit: one more question for other Aussie developers, how is the market right now for back-end web developers? I do mostly Python, PHP and Ruby. I&#x27;m not an Australian citizen but I&#x27;m a permanent resident so no visa issues.
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usedtolurk
High turnover may indicate problems with culture/management/remuneration or a
change in market conditions. It could just be coincidence. Or maybe they have
learned great skills and are now in high demand.

My advice:

1) Keep an eye open and try to understand why people are leaving. If you
haven't worked at many other Ozzie companies it will be difficult to gauge
what it's like elsewhere. (But also remember the grass always seems greener on
the other side).

2) If you're happy where you are it might pay off to stay put for a while -
high turnover often brings opportunities for advancement and/or increased
responsibility.

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throwaway_ozzy
Interesting points, thanks for your comment.

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byoung2
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. People leave and then other people start
leaving because they see people leaving. The question to ask is why did the
first round of people leave?

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throwaway_ozzy
> why did the first round of people leave?

most common reason is: because they moved on to a different position. They
always left on seemingly amicable terms.

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cjbprime
Yes.

