That's a good question, and probably one I don't truly know the answer to. I've been here my whole career (~11 years), so I simply don't have any experience outside my company or industry to compare against.
I imagine that some of it probably has to do with the large amount of domain-specific knowledge you gain when you work in the retail software business, although I'm sure that is true to some extent anywhere. That knowledge is very valuable when looking to hire someone into the business, but may not translate to anything tangible outside of it. It is actually something I worry about a bit, so I try to keep my skills sharp in other areas as well, playing with other software stacks and keeping up with the latest trends. I really enjoy programming, and problem-solving in general, so luckily it doesn't feel like a chore. I've always joked that if I won the lottery and could quit my job programming, I probably wouldn't because I enjoy it so much.
Speaking specifically about my employer, there are quite a few reasons why I have no intentions to leave even after more than a decade. Our cost of living is pretty low here, so the salary for an experienced software developer is sufficient to support a family of four comfortably, including owning a 2000+ sq. ft. home and putting away a good amount for retirement. That means that I do not need to look for "outside promotions" to increase my salary. It also gives me some hope that I won't run into some of the difficulties I hear about older software developers getting hired later in their careers. I personally work on a mature product, so there are rarely "crunch times". I generally work 40 hours a week +/-, some of them from home. Travel is minimal, and I do not have to carry a company phone, so I feel that I have a very good work/life balance. There are advancement opportunities available within the company, both for the technical and management track. I've seen people hired in as call center employees progress through to senior project management and technical experts.
Sorry that I don't have a simple answer to your question, but maybe explaining what keeps me here explains some of it.
Thanks - no apologies needed. It's good even if you do share your own personal opinion. I'm just interested in how I can build an organizational like that where software developers are happy. I've observed how project/tiger teams can stimulate enthusiasm but eventually, it fizzles out, the product gets shoved into the face of other developers who really don't want another new thing to maintain and everyone's just unhappy. Anything you can share on the culture side or what your company does to help keep software developers motivated?
I imagine that some of it probably has to do with the large amount of domain-specific knowledge you gain when you work in the retail software business, although I'm sure that is true to some extent anywhere. That knowledge is very valuable when looking to hire someone into the business, but may not translate to anything tangible outside of it. It is actually something I worry about a bit, so I try to keep my skills sharp in other areas as well, playing with other software stacks and keeping up with the latest trends. I really enjoy programming, and problem-solving in general, so luckily it doesn't feel like a chore. I've always joked that if I won the lottery and could quit my job programming, I probably wouldn't because I enjoy it so much.
Speaking specifically about my employer, there are quite a few reasons why I have no intentions to leave even after more than a decade. Our cost of living is pretty low here, so the salary for an experienced software developer is sufficient to support a family of four comfortably, including owning a 2000+ sq. ft. home and putting away a good amount for retirement. That means that I do not need to look for "outside promotions" to increase my salary. It also gives me some hope that I won't run into some of the difficulties I hear about older software developers getting hired later in their careers. I personally work on a mature product, so there are rarely "crunch times". I generally work 40 hours a week +/-, some of them from home. Travel is minimal, and I do not have to carry a company phone, so I feel that I have a very good work/life balance. There are advancement opportunities available within the company, both for the technical and management track. I've seen people hired in as call center employees progress through to senior project management and technical experts.
Sorry that I don't have a simple answer to your question, but maybe explaining what keeps me here explains some of it.