job hopper

Definition

An employee who frequently changes jobs every one to three years, accumulating varied experience while terrifying HR managers who value 'loyalty.' What older generations call 'unstable,' younger generations call 'career advancement.'

Example Usage

The hiring manager rejected her because she's a job hopper with five positions in six years, even though her salary doubled during that time.

Origin

Post-WWII employment terminology, when lifetime employment was the norm and changing jobs was viewed suspiciously

Fun Fact

Millennials change jobs four times in their first decade after college, compared to two times for Baby Boomers, because loyalty doesn't pay off when raises average 3% but job changes bring 10-20% increases.

Source: Traditional recruiting terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

position control

A budgeting and workforce planning system that manages the number and type of authorized positions rather than just headcount. It's bureaucracy's answer to the question 'how many people can we afford?'

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

Headcount

The number of employees in an organization, reduced to a single dehumanizing number that makes layoffs sound like inventory management. When someone says "we need to reduce headcount," they mean real humans with mortgages, but the phrasing helps everyone sleep at night.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

variable pay

Compensation that fluctuates based on performance, including bonuses, commissions, and incentives rather than fixed salary. It's the carrot-and-stick approach where the carrot's size depends on whether you met your KPIs this quarter.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

at-scale

HR's favorite buzzword for processes that supposedly work across large employee populations without breaking down. In reality, it means copying whatever worked for 50 people to 5,000 and hoping for the best.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

defector

An employee who jumps ship to work for the competition, usually taking trade secrets, client lists, and the good coffee machine pods with them. In corporate circles, defectors are simultaneously reviled by their former employers and celebrated by their new ones—at least until they defect again. The term carries a whiff of Cold War espionage, which is frankly appropriate given how HR treats these situations.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

time to fill

The metric measuring days from posting a job opening until an offer is accepted. It's how recruitment teams are judged, incentivizing speed over quality in hiring decisions.

👥 Human Resources

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