How long should one work at the same company?

Stay at one place for too long and such people are laid off first in crisis (have seen at the big techs in the current times). Switching gives you way more hike than yearly appraisal. Look for yourself and go where you get the most money and good enough work and culture. This is what I feel.

As long as it makes you mentally and financially happy. You won’t get any rewards for loyalty from any employer, we’re all replaceable and eventually will become irrelevant. So if it makes you happy, stay. If you want a change, you don’t owe your employer anything. They’ll replace during your notice and you will realize that we’re all dispensable.

Work long at one company only if you’re clearly in the top 10% of the people there and people are invested in your growth

This is actually a very simple framework. People just end up complicating this for no reason. All you got to do is do an honest self evaluation every 6 months. List down what all have you learnt in the past 6 months. Is it helping you grow your skill set in the area you have chosen? Are you solving an interesting or important problem for the company? Does it have a revenue impact? (This is a more recent addition, but this check helps to ensure you are always relevant for the org) Do you have good support when you face problems/ have a good mentor or manager? Are you growing financially / market standards at the least? Are you growing in responsibility (have a clear path towards a leadership role)? If your answers are positive to all the questions, you are in a dream role. Don't think of changing untill you u find something really better. It's rare to have everything. If a majority of the questions have a positive answer, it's still a great place to be in, but I would keep my eyes and ears to the ground to scout for better opportunities in a specific area which is of priority to me. If less than half are positive, you should be actively looking out to shift. Hope this helps.

As long as ur team and work is good. You can consider pay when there’s some life milestone like home loan, marriage, kid, etc.

Funnily enough, stumbled on this tweet just now: https://twitter.com/dmuthuk/status/1639866238922006529?s=46&t=-Y8gJsKWsnMPnWZzk9ilMQ

Have been here for 18yrs now!. Have thought about leaving but just when I prepare for interviews, a promotion comes out of the blue - mind you, I’ve never asked my manager for promotions, ever and I’ve always been promoted out of turn. Love the fact that everyone I’ve worked for has recognized my contribution and rewarded it. Pay scale isn’t that great but I’ve got enough in the bank to retire tomorrow, so my only drive is to a achieve something better than what I am already doing