Another reason why I think being an engineer in a startup is a lot more stable for your career is because you get to do a lot more work. Less HR bs, less time sending emails, fewer career progress reports and mid-year discussions. You end up spending a lot more time on doing real work, you learn a lot more (because there's no local guru that will do it for you, you got to figure everything our yourself).
You end up with more experience and with a much larger network, at least if you participate to your local startup scene. At BigCorp, you probably know at most your immediate division. Your world-view is fairly limited, and most of those people are likely not in the position to offer you an opportunity to work with them in the future.
Being forced to build a personal brand is true stability, at least compared to cruising along and hoping you don't get laid off.
You end up with more experience and with a much larger network, at least if you participate to your local startup scene. At BigCorp, you probably know at most your immediate division. Your world-view is fairly limited, and most of those people are likely not in the position to offer you an opportunity to work with them in the future.
Being forced to build a personal brand is true stability, at least compared to cruising along and hoping you don't get laid off.