People are leaving because a lot of companies are cutting down on their work hours. You can't really work less and expect to get more out of it. You have to get less but expect it to pay off in the long term. Many times this only happens if the people working less put a lot of effort into getting the next promotion. I don't believe that is the case with you. What I don't understand is the lack of support you get from your manager. You say you are a great employee and you need to be valued more. Why didn't they provide what you needed? You have a year's worth of experience, not to mention the expertise. I don't get why they don't give you more freedom, at least to make them see that they have value that they need to keep around. They can't take back what you gave them in the first year. You need to do a bit of soul searching. Are they really offering you anything on a daily basis? Why? Did they give you the same offers? To be honest the only reason I can think of why they would not offer you more is that they fear you leaving. It's hard to offer more when there's always the possibility you will leave. My advice to you is to quit first and then see if you are able to come back and if they are willing to give you what you need. If you quit and then come back you would have a strong bargaining chip. I can see it from a different perspective. You say, "I got to choose between working 12 hours in a week or 20 hours per week." If that is the case, why not work 20 hours? I would rather have the time than extra dollars. What do you do in 20 hours? Sleep? I sleep 8-9 hours per day. After that I'm dead until about 3:00 pm. I work an hour or two, then maybe do some laundry and clean up the house. After that I read a little and do some light chores like grocery shopping. This is my day. Is it really a waste of time? Some of it is a waste of time, but if you spent that time more productively you would get more done in the day and probably be more efficient. You could read more, clean up the house more, get exercise. In all my time off I get in three to four runs a week, go out for drinks, play tennis, play ping pong, I'll go out for a good meal a few times. Does that not help you out of work? Maybe they are saying to you, "Don't come back if you are just going to do your job." For me, it's like being in a marriage. When you are dating and you both agree on the parameters of your dating relationship, then things are really working. When the two parties want a separation after one of the parties wants to get the boot, it is usually time to call it quits. If you just got into this business and you want to just do your job and not give anything more, it is usually a good time to look around for a new job. But if you're not going to give anything more, why should they give you more? As a result, they don't give you more and you're a happy camper because you are getting more for your efforts than they're willing to give you. What is the point? Why are you putting up with this if they aren't giving you what you need? I agree with you that there are many companies that are having trouble. It is the "company man" trying to convince himself that he is a professional. What other answer can he give if the employee doesn't have high productivity? If you did the math and the company is offering only $10 per hour, that doesn't give you any incentive to increase your own productivity either. In fact, you could make more money being your own boss than working for someone else. You could become more efficient. I can guarantee you one thing, if you try working for a high paying company and put the effort into working less and seeing more return on your efforts, they will see this and try to negotiate this same thing. They want to be more efficient than you. I believe there will be companies that pay more for this skill set than just working for a company. In the end, everyone knows you can't work 10 hour days or get to the top. If you want to be your own boss, then you should not be looking at the 10 hour day. You can work 10 hours a week in a company and get ahead. The only trouble is that you need the time to increase your salary. This is something I'm sure you're not used to. I would suggest if you want to be valued more, then you should go out and get a new job. If you don't, then it looks like the company doesn't value you much at all. They are not offering you much. The salary you asked for seems low, but I would say if you are one of the great programmers, then you could easily find companies that pay $30 - $40 per hour. That's the value you can get from it. I would not pay $20 per hour for the same work that I pay someone $25 - $30 per hour. I would not pay $10 - $15 per hour for what I pay a high school graduate to work. I would want to make sure that if I am someone with this many skills, I would be offered more than just a salary. It doesn't matter if I get it in cash or stock or options. I would want a real part of the business if they will let me make more money on a share basis. I would be a real partner, get to make projections, participate in the business, and know the company is doing well. You can't get all of that in a 10 hour day. Good luck to you. ------ SlipperySlope I think you need to understand your worth ... and put it up for negotiation. I think it is unwise to go from a company where you are among the very best, to another where you are just average. In fact, I think you should look for something that suits your skills and put in more effort there, but find a better negotiating position. I'd ask for more money, and find other aspects of my job - which I like - that I can negotiate to enhance my work life. Your life. Make sure you include more than just salary. When I was at Google, everyone knew to take me for lunch, a beer, or coffee - in lieu of a Christmas bonus, etc. Everyone knew my role, and I was recognized every day in meetings. Not all companies have such culture ... and I doubt it's really that unusual to work for companies with this environment, but somehow in the last 30 years of working in large software projects, this has almost become a new reality for the software industry ... and I wonder if it should be. My point is that if you are in a new high tech, dynamic, highly competitive job at a software company, you should leverage it - you are already there - you just need to change the way you play your cards. ~~~ marcosdumay I don't know, it's always easy to say "give more", but how much should I give? Where should I even start? A large salary and a high bonus isn't everything. There are other benefits I like, like how much do you really want? Money is not the only thing that matters, I'd say. Anyway, the real problem is "why would they let me go, if they know how valuable I am?". It's no a matter of "work more", I mean, if they really need a dev for that company, they can't have a policy that will limit their productivity. ~~~ SlipperySlope Well, they need someone at least as good as you for your position, but I think it's a valid question. You already have some evidence for your worth in the past, now you just need to start leveraging it. In terms of negotiating, I am a big fan of the book "How to be a Successful...[insert career]" where the author has a chapter specifically for "salary negotiation". He does not give direct answers, but suggests that you think like a "player" when doing negotiations. To leverage your existing situation, don't just negotiate your salary - also try negotiating other aspects of your job. For example, you should try to negotiate into your vacation time for more days off. Negotiate into your commute time for parking close to work. Negotiate into your training days for more training, etc. In any case, there are good software engineers in the midwest - you need to think about how you could use these talents. ------ jgervin 1\. They have to realize you are worth more to the company than what they are off