u/techwithsohan

You have a stable job.
Salary comes every month.
You know the codebase.
Your manager knows you.
So you stop preparing for interviews.
Then suddenly 3 years pass.
Your salary barely moved, your skills are mostly specific to one project, and now you're scared to switch because you don't know if you're actually market ready.
The job that made you feel safe slowly made you comfortable.
Has this happened to anyone here?
How do you know when “job stability” has turned into a career trap?

Something about the current IT market feels strange.
Earlier, people complained about low hikes, bad managers, or boring projects.
Now, a lot of people seem genuinely grateful just to have a job even when the workload is unreasonable, the hike is almost nothing, and the growth has stopped.
Because the thought is:
“Whatever. At least I’m not unemployed.”
And honestly, that mindset scares me more than layoffs.
How many of you have stayed in a job you wanted to leave only because you were scared you wouldn’t find another one?
I’m curious how common this has become.

I remember when getting a job in tech felt like such a big achievement.

Now it feels like:

“Okay, I got the job.
But is the salary enough?
Should I switch?
Am I learning enough?
What if AI replaces this role?
What if I stay too long?
What if I switch too soon?”

Sometimes I miss the phase where I could just do my work without constantly calculating what my next move should be.

Does anyone else feel like career planning has become more stressful than the actual job?