You do need to at least be aware of new stuff, even your current employer is stuck in the past. Few reasons:
Firstly, if you're looking for a new job. One thing I'll often ask in an interview is what feature of the latest/next version the interviewee likes. It's a way of telling whether the person is someone who's going to learn on their own or someone who I'll have to force information on.
Second, as the data professional in your company, you may be asked to motivate for an upgrade. Or you may find that something the company's currently struggling with would be trivial with a feature from a newer version.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability