Things I've learned from my various employers, from out of college to now:

1. Smallish company, 50-ish employees, IBM Business Partner. I worked in a small and new division that was phased out after 4 years. Instead of moving into their mainstream business (mid-size and mainframe software), I moved on.

2. Very small company, four people. Tried to grow too fast, not enough benefits, saw the writing on the wall and started hunting for jobs. Place closed down a month after I left.

3. Mid-size startup auto parts chain. Funded by Canadian Tire, but a U.S. operation. Our survival depended on CT's management decisions each year on profitability. After three years, they shut down and sent everyone away with admittedly a good severance package.

4. Small company, breaking into the Internet Service Provider business. Holdover job to at least have some income after #3 laid me off. Left just as their ISP business zoomed. Sold out to another company, who laid off most of my former co-workers.

5. Very large company with lots of benefits. Ended up traveling quite a bit. Pay raises were on a yearly, fixed basis. Each department got a payroll budget that was essentially 4% to 6% larger than the year before which meant that, on average, everyone got a cost-of-living raise each year, regardless of enthusiasm or dedication. Quickly got bored with that.

6. Current position. Initially a small company, now a mid-size company. I was the sole IT guy at first. Owner of the company is passionate about anything he wants to accomplish. Owner set up a revolutionary 401k program in which the company can, at its discretion, contribute up to 20% of your salary to your fund. I have gotten that maximum contribution each of the last two years.

I enjoy my work (as a senior software engineer). I hate managing people, and the owner realizes that if your talents are in programming instead of management, salary shouldn't depend on your willingness to "advance" into management. I've been there 9 years now and my current salary is almost 250% of where I started 9 years ago.

Conclusion: If you can find the right small company, with an owner that is passionate about the business and always has new ideas for direction and new markets, you might just luck out and help the company grow (along with your bank account). There are a lot of small companies that stagnate or just don't make it (think the dot-com boom/bust).

The last thing I would depend on, regardless of the size of the company and how long it has been in business, is a pension plan (think Enron). My Dad passed away early in life (mid-50's), leaving my Mom with his pension from working in a steel mill. Once the mill sold out to a foreign company, the pension dried up, leaving my Mom primarily on Social Security and interest from life insurance proceeds.