October 6, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Job tenure declines among men

The median number of years male wage and salary workers had been with their current employers edged down to 3.8 years in February 1998. Men's tenure had been in the narrow range between 4.0 and 4.1 years in four previous surveys.

From 1983 to 1998, men's job tenure declined 0.3 year despite an upward shift in the age of the workforce. All other things being equal, this age shift should have been associated with an increase in tenure. However, median tenure for male workers declined within every age group over the 15-year period (see chart) and offset the age effect.

[Chart data—TXT]

The proportion of men age 25 and over who had worked for their current employer for 10 years or more fell from 37.7 percent in 1983 to 32.7 percent in 1998. For men ages 40 to 64, the proportion with at least 10 years of tenure fell by about 10 percentage points within every 5 year age interval.

These data were produced by a supplement to the Current Population Survey. For additional information, see news release USDL 98-387, "Employee Tenure in 1998".