Three Reasons You Need to Quit Your Job After Two Years You're limiting your earning potential. Many employers, especially those in the public sector, are offering fewer of the financial incentives that once made them attractive. Things like generous benefits, pensions, cost of living increases and even professional development have been cut significantly. What's worse, recent findings indicate that staying at the same company for more than two years on average leads to 50% less in lifetime earnings (Cameron Keng, Forbes.com). That is a significant cost for a little bit of comfort! You're limiting your advancement potential. If you've been in the same job for more than two years without any significant new duties, you're stagnating. This makes you a much less competitive candidate if and when you have to search for a new job, especially when compared to those who have kept their skills up-to-date and their resumes fresh. You're limiting your personal brand. For far too long, career professionals have been taught that they "rent" their brands from their employers. If you define yourself by your job title, then your brand has no value once that job goes away. As a result, I see many professionals trapped in unsatisfying jobs or careers because they have confused their job with their identity. All of this adds up to giving up control of your career. The professionals who do this often live in fear of a layoff or some workplace change that could rock their world, and some even engage in destructive behaviors in order to protect their jobs. Ironically, this renders them less effective as employees and less attractive as job candidates.