American workers on average have been with current employers for 4.6 years

Older workers more likely to stay with companies for longer periods

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 18, 2014) — As of January 2014 American workers on average have been with their current employers for 4.6 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average for men was 4.7 years and for women 4.5 years.

Data, which is taken from the Current Population Survey’s monthly sample of 60,000 households, remains unchanged from 2012.

Among men, 30 percent of workers had beefed with their current employer for 10 years or more, compared with 28 percent for women.

Median employee tenure was higher among older workers. The median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 was 10.4 years, while 58 percent of workers ages 60 to 64 had been with their current employee for at least 10 years.  The median tenure among workers ages 25 to 34 was three years and only 12 percent of workers ages 30 to 34 had been with their current employee for at least 10 years.

Among Hispanics, 21 percent had been with their current employer for 10 or more years, compared with 30 percent of whites and 25 percent of African Americans and Asians. The majority of Hispanic workers are younger, with 54 percent between ages 16 to 34, compared to 35 percent of whites, 38 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Asians.

The share of wage and salary workers with a year or less of tenure with their current employer was 21 percent, unchanged from 2012. Younger workers were more likely than older workers to be short-tenured employees, with 72 percent of those ages 16 to 19 being with an employee for a year or less, compared to only 9 percent of workers ages 55 to 64.

Federal employees had a higher median tenure (8.5 years) than state (7.4 years) or local government (7.9 years) employees.

Manufacturing had the highest tenure among major industries, at 5.9 years, compared to 2.3 years for leisure and hospitality.

Workers in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median tenure (5.7 years), led by management (6.9 years), architecture and engineering (6.4 years), and education, training, and library (6.2 years).

Workers in service occupations, who are generally younger than management, professional, and related occupations, had the lowest median tenure (3.3 years). Among employees working in service occupations, food preparation workers had the lowest median tenure, at 2.2 years.