Employee Tenure Summary
Technical information:(202) 691-6378 USDL 08-1344 http://www.bls.gov/cps/ For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT) Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, September 26, 2008 EMPLOYEE TENURE IN 2008 The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 4.1 years in January 2008, little changed from 4.0 years in January 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Information on employee tenure has been obtained from supplemental questions to the Current Population Survey (CPS) every 2 years since 1996. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that provides information on the labor force status, demographics, and other characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. The questions about employee tenure measure how long workers had been with their current employer at the time of the sur- vey. A number of factors can affect the median tenure of workers, including changes in the age profile among workers as well as changes in the number of hires and separations. (See the Technical Note.) Demographic Characteristics In January 2008, median tenure (the point at which half of all workers had more tenure and half had less tenure) for men was 4.2 years, about unchanged from January 2006. For women, median tenure in January 2008 was 3.9 years, unchanged from January 2006. (See table 1.) Older workers tend to have more years of tenure than their younger counterparts. For example, median tenure for employees age 55 to 64 was 9.9 years in January 2008, almost four times the tenure (2.7 years) for workers age 25 to 34. (See table 1.) The percentage of all wage and salary workers age 16 and over with 10 or more years of tenure with their current employer was 27 percent in January 2008. Among men, 28 percent had at least 10 years of ten- ure with their current employer in January 2008, higher than the 26 percent among women. A larger percentage of older workers than younger workers had 10 or more years of tenure. More than half of all workers age 55 and over were employed for at least 10 years with their current employer in January 2008, compared with only 10 percent of those age 30 to 34. (See tables 2 and 3.) The proportion of Hispanic wage and salary workers (age 16 and over) with 10 or more years of tenure with their current employer was 19 percent in January 2008, compared with 28 percent of white, 24 per- cent of black, and 21 percent of Asian workers. (See table 3.) The shorter tenure among Hispanics can be explained, in part, by their re- lative youth. Nearly 50 percent of Hispanic workers age 16 and over were between the ages of 16 to 34. In contrast, less than 40 percent of whites, blacks, and Asians were between 16 and 34 years old. - 2 - In January 2008, about 23 percent of all wage and salary workers age 16 and over had 12 months or less of tenure with their current employer. These short-tenured workers include new entrants and reentrants to the labor force, job losers who found new jobs during the previous year, and workers who had voluntarily changed employers during the previous year. Younger workers are more likely than older workers to be short-tenured employees. For example, among 20- to 24- year-old workers, about half had a year or less of tenure with their current employer. Among wage and salary workers age 55 to 64 and those age 65 and over, less than 10 percent had a year or less of ten- ure. (See table 3.) Industry In January 2008, wage and salary workers in the public sector had double the median tenure of private sector employees, 7.2 versus 3.6 years. The longer tenure among workers in the public sector is ex- plained, in part, by a higher share of workers age 35 and over among government workers than in the private sector. About 3 in 4 govern- ment workers were age 35 and over, compared with about 3 out of 5 pri- vate wage and salary workers. Federal employees had a higher median tenure (9.9 years) than state (6.5 years) or local government (7.1 years) employees. (See table 5.) Within the private sector, workers in manufacturing had the highest median tenure among the major industries (5.9 years). In contrast, workers in leisure and hospitality had the lowest median tenure (2.1 years). These differences in tenure reflect many factors, one of which is varying age distributions across industries; workers in manu- facturing tend to be older on average than workers in leisure and hos- pitality. (See table 5.) Occupation Among the major occupations, workers in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median tenure (5.1 years) in January 2008. Within this group, employees with jobs in architecture and engineering occupations (6.4 years) and management occupations (6.0 years) had the longest tenure. Workers in service occupations, who are generally younger than persons employed in management, profes- sional, and related occupations, had the lowest median tenure (2.8 years). Among employees working in service jobs, food service workers had the shortest median tenure, at 2.0 years. (See table 6.) ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | Imputed Data for Older Veterans and Young Workers | | | | Due to a programming error in the January 2008 survey | | instrument, employee tenure information was not obtained | | from respondents who were 16 years old and from those who | | were veterans age 65 and over. Missing data for these | | individuals were imputed using information collected from | | respondents who were 16 years old and veterans age 65 and | | over in the January 2006 supplement. This imputation had | | minimal effect on the overall estimates because of the | | similar employment characteristics of these two groups in | | January 2006 and January 2008. | | | -----------------------------------------------------------
- Employee Tenure Technical Note
- Table 1. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by age and sex, selected years, 1996-2008
- Table 2. Percent of employed wage and salary workers 25 years and over who had 10 years or more of tenure with their current employer by age and sex, selected years, 1996-2008
- Table 3. Distribution of employed wage and salary workers by tenure with current employer, age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, January 2008
- Table 4. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers 25 years and over by educational attainment, sex, and age, January 2008
- Table 5. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by industry, selected years, 2000-08
- Table 6. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by occupation, selected years, 2000-08
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Last Modified Date: September 26, 2008