Now, I never claimed to be a rockstar. However, my evaluations were always glowing, commenting on how I went above and beyond. But at the end of the day, that attitude hurt my social & familial life. I spent weekends working instead of hanging with friends or family. I missed events. I cancelled dates. I was a go-to guy, but the promised rewards never came.
Now that I'm older, and see what they do to other people, I don't want to play that game. If they want to increase my workload because colleagues jumped ship, that's tough. They aren't paying me more, so why should I do more. I've seen them layoff talented people just to reduce headcount/salaries to improve the ROI or bottom line. Fuck, I've heard them brag about that shit. Basically, there is no loyalty. As much as companies want to pretend they are a family, they will drop your ass faster than a hot potato if they figure they could get someone to do your job cheaper. So, fuck them, because they will fuck you sooner or later.