This is incorrect as a general statement. I have reviewed several hundred resumes over the last 2 years on which software developers stayed at a company between 4 and 6 years as the median. In the Bay area 4 years is often the vesting schedule for people's first stock option (and it can be the biggest one people get) and I think that contributes.
When I see a resume with a bunch of 1 or 2 year engagements without that person being a contractor it always raises a flag for me to investigate that during the interview.
As in you investigate why their employers couldn't retain their talent?
The way employers view "job hoppers" says a lot about the work place culture, speaking from experience on both sides and both philosophies. (One philosophy solely faulting the employee, the other philosophy recognizing the current state of the industry)
I like to try to understand what someone is hoping to get out of their job. People have any number of reasons for working, from 'putting food on the table' to 'changing the world.' There are a lot of intermediate motivations as well.
I try to understand that because I have a fairly good idea what the job can offer and the extent to which the job can be tailored to help align it with the employee's goals.
I try not to generalize. I start with the thesis that someone who loves their job and that job is meeting all of their current personal goals, will stay working on it until one of those two things changes. In my experience that sort of change generally takes years not months.
When people go job to job to job, it can be simple like they are trying to ratchet their salary up faster than the typical 'annual' raise cycle. It can be complex like they are taking jobs that meet some requirement they have imposed on themselves but they don't actually like those sorts of jobs. Or it can be something else entirely. I'd like to understand what it is so that I can gauge whether or not the person is likely to stick around long enough to have an impact or not.
I know, from having worked at Google, why there is a peak at 12-18 months. I expect it exists at Facebook for a similar reason.
It isn't the one job with the 'short' duration I wonder about on a resume, it is a pattern of short duration jobs. That is a pattern that I ask about when I interview someone whose resume shows a lot of different jobs.
This is incorrect as a general statement. I have reviewed several hundred resumes over the last 2 years on which software developers stayed at a company between 4 and 6 years as the median. In the Bay area 4 years is often the vesting schedule for people's first stock option (and it can be the biggest one people get) and I think that contributes.
When I see a resume with a bunch of 1 or 2 year engagements without that person being a contractor it always raises a flag for me to investigate that during the interview.