Loyal to a Fault

What you don’t know, you don’t know.
And staying loyal can quietly cost you.

I spoke to a candidate recently whose situation I see more often than people realise.

He joined a large recruitment agency around 2019. At the time, it made sense. The brand was strong, the training was decent, and the message internally was reassuring. We do things the right way here. We’re not like other recruitment companies. It’s worse everywhere else.

He worked hard.
Did well.
Became reliable and dependable.
Well liked internally.

And he stayed. Probably longer than he should have.

Over time, the signs were there if you were paying attention. Profitability slipping. Good people quietly leaving. Commission structures being chipped away. Less investment in people. Less energy in the business. But leaving felt risky, and the narrative was always the same. Stick with us. Other places are tougher. At least you’re safe here. Everywhere else is awful! 

So he stayed and hoped things would improve.

They didn’t.

Recently, the entire office was told they needed to reapply for their roles and relocate to a much longer commute. No real flexibility. No recognition of length of service. No reward for loyalty. Just a commercial decision made at board level.

That’s often the moment people wake up.

Now he’s looking for a new role, but not from a position of strength. He’s on the back foot.

Opportunities locally are limited, and what could have been a calm, empowered move has become reactive.

This is the uncomfortable truth.

Staying put because it feels safe doesn’t always protect you. In fact, it can slowly erode your leverage. Loyalty on its own is not a strategy. Length of service does not guarantee security. When recruitment businesses need to protect margins, loyalty rarely outweighs a spreadsheet.

What makes this worse is the story many people are told while they’re staying.

That their company is the “nice” one.
That everywhere else is ruthless.
That moving would be a mistake.

Sometimes that story is told subtly. Sometimes it’s explicit. Either way, it keeps people stuck. And the longer you stay without reviewing your options, the harder it becomes to move from a position of confidence.

This doesn’t mean you should jump ship at the first wobble. Moving company is a risk. But there’s a huge difference between gambling and making an informed decision.

Proper due diligence matters. Understanding how a business really makes money. Who the top billers are. Whether people are progressing or just surviving. Whether commission structures are improving or quietly shrinking. Whether the environment will actually move your career and earnings forward, not just keep you comfortable.

And you have to think for yourself.

Listen to advice, but don’t outsource your career decisions entirely. Don’t let fear or familiarity keep you stuck. If you’re on a sinking ship, loyalty doesn’t make it float.

This is where a good rec2rec should add value. Not by pushing people out of roles, but by helping them sense-check businesses, challenge the narratives they’ve been fed, and get visibility of companies they might never have considered, some of which may be far better environments than they’ve been led to believe.

The takeaway isn’t “be disloyal”.

It’s don’t get sucked in.
Don’t settle out of fear.
Don’t wait until you have to move.

Because the best time to review your options is usually when you don’t need to.

And what you don’t know really can cost you.