5 years. Had a quite decent permie job, good training, lots of varied experience across a wide range of technologies. After 3.5 years they offered me 6 months salary to leave (voluntary redundancy). Had two different permie jobs in the next 18 months. The first was dreadful, the second worse. Then I went contracting (1995).
However, even the two terrible jobs did gain me technical (and life) experience which has stood me in good stead since. But I'd probably have done just as well to have gone contracting immediately after redundancy.
On the other hand, I know plenty of decent contractors who did zero, one or two years permie before contracting.
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Pournelle - Welfare States become self perpetuating. In fact, the officials of a Welfare State, perceiving that their jobs require a supply of "clients" needing State aid, eventually become adept at making sure that there are always people in need. To do this, they either adopt policies that promote poverty and dependence, or stretch existing classifications to bring more "clients" into the Welfare system.
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