Adrian Volenik
3 min read
After four and a half years of staying loyal to their first job, one worker says they learned the hard way that dedication doesn't always pay off. Now they’re asking others in the r/jobs subreddit, “Is it just me or has ‘loyalty’ become the most expensive career mistake?”
They trained new hires, led projects, and took on extra tasks without ever asking for a raise, assuming their loyalty would be noticed and rewarded.
They watched a new hire in the same role and with less experience get 20% higher pay. “That's when it hit me—loyalty doesn't get rewarded, it gets exploited,” the original poster wrote. They eventually left the company and secured a 35% salary increase elsewhere, along with better benefits and a workplace culture that showed more appreciation.
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Commenters jumped in with personal stories, many echoing the same lesson: staying loyal can come at a steep cost.
“The idea of being loyal to a company went out the window in the ’90s,” one corporate veteran wrote. “If I need to save as much money as possible for retirement, I will sure as sh*t be job hopping as regularly as I can.”
Another user, with over two decades at the same company, said bluntly: “Definitely doesn’t feel like they care at all.”
A common theme throughout the responses was how companies often overlook long-term employees while paying more to newer hires. “The only reward for hard work is more hard work,” one commenter noted. Others recalled watching coworkers get laid off after years or even decades of service, receiving little more than a severance check and a quick goodbye.
Some shared stories of being passed over for raises and promotions despite doing the work of multiple roles. “Your mistake wasn't loyalty. It was not asking for a raise,” one wrote. Another added, “If you’re not getting compensated fairly, loyalty is charity for rich people.”
Still, not everyone agreed that loyalty is always a mistake. A few people pointed out that strong management and clear career growth can make staying worthwhile.
Others argued that advocating for yourself, asking for raises, pushing for promotions, or even job hunting regularly, is the real key. “Loyalty isn’t as much a problem as silence is,” one said. “You have to ask or demand what you want.”
