For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, September 20, 2018                     USDL-18-1500

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                                 EMPLOYEE TENURE IN 2018


The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer 
was 4.2 years in January 2018, unchanged from the median in January 2016, the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics reported today.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office sponsored the January 2018 survey to 
collect information on employee tenure. Since 1996, these surveys have been conducted biennially 
in January as a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly sample 
survey of about 60,000 households that provides information on the labor force status 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 survey. A number of 
factors can affect median tenure of workers, including changes in the age profile among workers, 
as well as changes in the number of hires and separations. For further information about the CPS, 
see the Technical Note in this news release.

Demographic Characteristics

In January 2018, median employee tenure (the point at which half of all workers had more tenure 
and half had less tenure) for men was 4.3 years, unchanged from January 2016. Median tenure for 
women, at 4.0 years in January 2018, also was unchanged from January 2016. Among men, 30 percent 
of wage and salary workers had 10 years or more of tenure with their current employer in January 
2018, slightly higher than the figure of 28 percent for women. (See tables 1 and 3.)

Generally, median employee tenure was higher among older workers than younger ones. For example, 
the median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 (10.1 years) was more than three times that of workers 
ages 25 to 34 (2.8 years). Also, a larger proportion of older workers than younger workers 
had 10 years or more of tenure. For example, 57 percent of workers ages 60 to 64 were employed 
for at least 10 years with their current employer in January 2018, compared with 12 percent of 
those ages 30 to 34. (See tables 1 and 2.)

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, 23 percent of Hispanics had been with their current 
employer for 10 years or more in January 2018, compared with 30 percent of Whites and 25 percent 
of both Black and Asian workers. (See table 3.) The shorter tenure among Hispanic workers can be 
explained, in part, by their relative youth. Forty-three percent of Hispanic workers were between 
the ages of 16 and 34; by comparison, the proportions for Whites (36 percent), Blacks (39 percent), 
and Asians (35 percent) were smaller. 

In January 2018, the share of wage and salary workers with a year or less of tenure with their 
current employer was 22 percent, little changed from the proportion in January 2016 (23 percent). 
This short-tenured group includes new hires, job losers who found new jobs during the previous 
year, and workers who had voluntarily changed employers during the year. Younger workers were 
more likely than older workers to be short-tenured employees. For example, in January 2018, 74 
percent of 16- to 19-year-olds had tenure of 12 months or less with their current employer, 
compared with 9 percent of workers ages 55 to 64. (See table 3.)

Among workers age 25 and over, men and women with less than a high school diploma had lower 
median tenure in January 2018 than those with more education. The median tenure for men and 
women with less than a high school diploma was 4.7 years and 4.2 years, respectively. Their 
counterparts with at least a college degree had median tenure of 5.2 years and 5.0 years, 
respectively. (See table 4.)

Industry

In January 2018, wage and salary workers in the public sector had a median tenure of 6.8 years, 
considerably higher than the median of 3.8 years for private-sector employees. One factor behind 
this difference is age. About 3 in 4 government workers were age 35 and over, compared with about 
3 in 5 private wage and salary workers. Federal employees had a higher median tenure (8.3 years) 
than state (5.9 years) or local government (6.9 years) employees. (See table 5.)

Within the private sector, workers had been with their current employer for 5 or more years in two 
industries--mining (5.1 years) and manufacturing (5.0 years). Workers in leisure and hospitality had 
the lowest median tenure (2.2 years). These differences in tenure reflect many factors, one of which 
is varying age distributions across industries. For example, workers in manufacturing, on average, 
tend to be older than those in leisure and hospitality.

Occupation

Among the major occupations, workers in management, professional, and related occupations had the 
highest median tenure (5.0 years) in January 2018. Within this group, employees with jobs in management 
occupations (6.4 years), in architecture and engineering occupations (5.7 years), in legal occupations 
(5.1 years), and in education, training, and library occupations (5.1 years) had the longest tenure. Workers 
in service occupations, who are generally younger than persons employed in management, professional, 
and related occupations, had the lowest median tenure (2.9 years). Among employees working in service 
occupations, food service workers had the lowest median tenure, at 1.9 years. (See table 6.)

Technical Note

The data in this release were collected through a supplement to the January 2018
Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS, which is conducted by the U.S. Census
Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is a monthly survey of about
60,000 eligible households that provides information on the labor force status,
demographics, and other characteristics of the nation's civilian noninstitutional
population age 16 and over.

The January 2018 CPS supplement, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of 
Labor, obtained information on worker displacement and workers' tenure with their 
current employer. The data on worker displacement are online at 
www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#displaced.

Updated population controls for the CPS are introduced annually with the release
of the January data. Additional information about population controls is available
on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals
upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200, Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error.
When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance
that the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent.
The component of this difference that occurs because sample differ by chance is
known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard error of
the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an
estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the
true population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted
at the 90-percent level of confidence.

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for
many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability
to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness
of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or
processing of the data.

A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information on estimating
standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Tenure concepts and questions

Employee tenure is a measure of how long wage and salary workers had been with their
current employer at the time of the survey. Many of the estimates shown in this report
are medians; the median is the point at which half of all workers had more tenure and
half had less tenure. Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time
workers.

Wage and salary workers receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind,
or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors
but excludes all self-employed persons, both those with incorporated businesses and
those with unincorporated businesses.

In the CPS supplement, questions on tenure were asked of all employed persons. The
main question was: "How long has ... been working continuously for (fill in name of
present employer)?"

               _____ Days
               _____ Weeks
               _____ Months
               _____ Years

For responses of "1 year" or "2 years," a follow-up question was asked: "Could you
please give the exact number of months?"

The purpose of the follow-up question is to obtain more precise information on
workers who had been with their current employer for a relatively short time. This
follow-up question was included for the first time in the February 1996 CPS supplement
on worker displacement and tenure. CPS supplements that obtained information on tenure
in January of 1983, 1987, and 1991 did not include the follow-up question. In those
surveys, responses of 1 year or more could be coded only as the nearest full year, and
responses of less than a year were coded as the nearest full month. Currently, the 
2-year category includes 24 to 29 months and the 3-year category includes 2.5 to 
3.5 years.

Prior to January 1983, CPS supplements on tenure asked wage and salary workers, "When
did ... start working at (his/her) present job?" For wage and salary workers, the
meaning of the term "job" is ambiguous. For example, a worker who had been employed
at a particular company for 10 years and had been promoted to a managerial position
1 year prior to the survey may have been counted as having 10 years or 1 year of
tenure, depending on whether the respondent interpreted the question to mean tenure
with the current employer or tenure in the managerial position. To rectify this
ambiguity, the wording of the question was changed in January 1983 to specify the
length of time a worker had been with his or her current employer. The change
resulted in a break in historical comparability.

Interpreting tenure data

Data on tenure have been used as a gauge of employment security, with some observers
regarding increases in tenure as a sign of improving security and decreasing tenure
as a sign of deteriorating security. However, there are limitations to using the data
in this way. For example, during recessions or other periods of declining job security,
median tenure and the proportion of workers with long tenure could rise if less-senior
workers are more likely to lose their jobs than are workers with longer tenure. During
periods of economic growth, median tenure and the proportion of workers with long tenure
could fall if more job opportunities are available for new entrants to the workforce and
experienced workers have more opportunities to change employers and take better jobs.
Tenure also could rise under improving economic conditions, however, as fewer layoffs
occur and good job matches develop between workers and employers.

A changing age distribution among workers would also affect median tenure. Since older
workers are more likely to have long tenure with their current employer than younger
workers, aging baby boomers in the workforce would provide upward pressure on overall
median tenure.