The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with
their current employer was 4.0 years in January 2006, unchanged from Janu-
ary 2004, according to the data released today by the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Links:

• http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm

posted June 4, 2008

I think that age/experience is a factor in answering this questions. I think you'd find that 4 - 6 years is common for those under 45 or so in a small to midsize company. I suspect you'd find longer longevity after the age of 45.

posted June 4, 2008

Hi Tom

That is a very good question as well as a concern.

The concept of warmth, though very important for the family, extends outwardly into the workplace. If you could do an in depth analysis of a large company that has an extremely low employee turnover ratio, you would find the feeling of warmth within the culture of that company. It is not only a great place to grow financially, but a great place to be in general. In other words, it just feels good to be there.

Top ten companies radiate warmth to their employees. The feeling of warmth keeps fear away and allows growth from within.

Best wishes,
Pat

posted June 4, 2008

I agree with Christi that age is definitely a factor. Seeing hundreds of entry-level resumes monthly, I've noticed that these candidates, many of which are "the Millennials", go for the foot-in-the-door approach to get a little experience and then after a couple years go to another company for a quick raise in salary and a perceived better working environment. If they truely find what they are looking for in the work environment then they stay for a while (3-5yrs), but then inevitably change companies again if they haven't earned that promotion to mid/upper management. However, I do agree with Kristen Fife, most companies are not large enough for the ambitious workers of today to develop and grow over the long-term.

posted June 4, 2008

I like to see stints of 2+ years with at least one position longer than that. I don't worry if I see two short term positions in a row, when it hits three, I start to view it as a problem with the candidate's ability to find the right position or keep a position, rather than the typical reasons why someone might leave a company shortly after they've joined them.

posted June 4, 2008

It definitely depends on the industry sector and the years of experience behind the candidate. It also depends on the Retention Strategy you have in place. In these current times it’s very difficult to find candidates staying with one firm for more than 2 years, especially in a talent shortage market from where I come from (New Zealand). Then you have the Gen Y who is aspirational to move up the rank quickly. So if you have managed to retain a candidate for more than 3-4 years you have done pretty well.

posted June 4, 2008

I saw something recently on-line that talked about job hopping and whether it helped or hurt your resume. The consensus was that it depends on the industry. A year or so in the IT related industry is ok but not in most every other industry. I would agree with the 4-6 years that others mention. It is rare to hear about someone sticking with a company for their entire carreer.

posted June 4, 2008

Tom~

You've gotten a lot of statistical information here, and some "rules of thumb" that most recruiters are given, but I don't see the question as that easily answered. When I moved from agency recruiting (of administrative assistants) to corporate recruiting (of sales pros), I discovered that it really does depend on the industry and the position.

For instance, sales people are all about the money (at least the good ones are). This means that once they have topped out on a position's potential commissions, they move on. For many, that can be a couple of years, or even just 1 year. OR, if they have been directly recruited to another company to make more money, they will jump, especially if they don't have to work as hard, or they have the potential to make that same money in half the hours down the road. I never worried about a sales person that jumped around too much, as long as they could provide w-2's or sales reports to show they made money, and could do the "sales math" to go along with their proof of performance.

I have also seen that certain IT people need to move around a lot in order to stay on top of skills and make themselves more marketable. These folks may only be on a job for a year, or may take a number of consulting assignments on the short term in order to stay fresh and most marketable.

On the other hand, a good accountant might stay put for 5 or more years. Accountants who jump make me nervous, because that is a more stable "job role" for the most part. I think the more changeable the job role, the more jumping overall you will see in many job histories.

As a recruiter, I almost worry more about those job seekers out there who have been in their current positions too long (ie, more than 8 or 9 years). I would fear that those people are not current in skills, unless they have really moved up the ladder, staying at the same company, but not in the same position.

I would comment further on your age discrimination question, but I'm not clear on what you're asking. Do you mean, are employers cutting older workers after shorter amounts of time on the job? Or do you mean, are older workers unable to maintain job stability? Maybe if you could clarify that, I could comment further.

Hope this answers your question.

Betsy

posted June 4, 2008

Depending on one's career stage in life - typical range is 3 to 5 to 7 years. The earlier stage in their career, typically the shorter the employee's committment. With strong career growth/ learning/ promotability provided by management; and/or quality of work/life balance is strong - will one early in their career stay longer. Of course this tenure is factored by market conditions and life changes.

posted June 4, 2008

The days of employees with 40+ years are long gone! They are first ones let go to save money in salary, benefits, 401K match and pensions. Then they find it hard to be hired as the new employee from fear of retiring. A Catch 22.

The Generation X's and Y's would be 3-5 years as new employees.

posted June 5, 2008

Anyone who answered that without asking company profile and industry etc is... ummm.. vamping would be a polite term.

In fast food and call centers in the US turnover is in terms of months or weeks. In IT and tech, years. In certain types of manufacturing, decades.

You can use time on prior jobs as a proxy for expected longevity on your job, with a reasonable threshold. If the person lasted over a year on the last job, then he's a candidate. But beyond that, you'd best be looking at the person in front of you rather than the paper that got them in the door to the interview.

Expected job disloyalty among the young easily offsets expected mortality among the old. Age discrimination is its own punishment.

posted June 6, 2008