So it’s reassuring to see once customary traits, like keeping the same job for longer than six months, still an important part for some members of community.

Take Gunnedah Fire and Rescue captain Rod Brynes who retired after one-run shy of four decades on the job. 

It’s quite a feat.

Try and tell the typical 20-year-old they will be spending the next 40 years in the same job, and watch them squirm and scoff at the thought. It’s just not the done thing anymore.

Modern-day job seekers jump from one gig to the next and never give it a second thought. It’s common practice which is almost accepted by employers.

When a few long-serving staff members recently retired from this Gunnedah office after similarly long stints in the same trade with the same company, I realised I had forgotten this type of employment longevity still existed.

I take my hat off to Rod, who started as a firefighter at the tender age of just 17, and others like him who show loyalty to their employers and stay for the long haul.

But the days are numbered for this type of employee because if societal changes don’t catch up with them first, technology will, and the jobs will go. It’s not personal, it’s just business, fed by a thirst by companies to drive their profit margins further.

Intertwined in this, are more job sharing opportunities. Slowly it’s becoming a more accepted form of employment, in some cases because technology is taking over roles once dominated by skilled workers. The follow on effect means less full time work and more people employed in multiple part-time roles. Perhaps it’s the perfect arrangement for a generation that just can’t sit still.

The risk through all this, in less full time work and shorter employment periods, is we become disconnected with our employees, treating them more as a commodity to be used and shared, rather than a valuable part of good business. People must at the heart of any good company’s management plan.

I’ll leave the last word with Rod.

“From my working age, right through to now I’ve been on call 24/7,” Rod said. “I’ve put my family aside for 39 years for the community. I think I’ve done my time and I want to spend time with my family now.”

We couldn’t agree more Rod.