Use the companies against each other. In this economy workers are in demand, so negotiating terms is on the employee's side.I suppose, ive been here 18 years...lol. but a change is coming. Im going Saturday to discuss my future with another company in the same industry. Its smaller company, with room to grow & an option to buy out the current owner when he retires in 10 or so years.
But to be fair, I love what I'm doing, so 50 or so hours a week here beats 40 hours a week in the field. Plus, it's hard to beat getting paid for 12 months and only actually working 8 months.