Employee Tenure Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, September 24, 2026                               USDL-26-1532

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


                                   EMPLOYEE TENURE IN 2026


The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer
was 4.1 years in January 2026, up from 3.9 years in January 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office sponsored the January 2026 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 eligible 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 2026, 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, up from 4.2 years in January 2024. For
women, median tenure was 4.0 years in January 2026, up from the median of 3.6 years in January
2024. 

Median employee tenure was generally higher among older workers than younger ones. For
example, the median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 (9.6 years) was more than three times that
of workers ages 25 to 34 (3.0 years). (See table 1.)

Among men age 25 years and over, 31.1 percent of wage and salary workers had 10 years or more
of tenure with their current employer in January 2026, higher than the figure for women (29.0
percent). A larger proportion of older workers than younger workers had 10 years or more of
tenure. For example, among workers ages 60 to 64, 52.6 percent had been employed for at least
10 years with their current employer in January 2026, compared with 20.3 percent of those ages
35 to 39. (See table 2.)

In January 2026, the share of wage and salary workers with a year or less of tenure with their
current employer was 20.6 percent, down from the proportion in January 2024 (22.2 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 2026,
74.1 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds had tenure of 12 months or less with their current
employer, compared with 9.2 percent of workers ages 55 to 64. (See table 3.) 

Among the major race and ethnicity groups, 19.8 percent of White workers and 17.3 percent of
Asian workers had been with their current employer for a year or less in 2026. The percentages
of short-tenured workers who were Black or Hispanic were higher, at 25.0 percent and 24.2
percent, respectively. (See table 3.) 

Among women age 25 and over, those with less than a high school diploma had lower median
tenure (4.1 years) in January 2026 than associate degree holders (4.7 years) and college
graduates (4.9 years). For men age 25 and over, the median tenure for workers with less than a
high school diploma was 4.7 years, less than the median for those with an associate degree
(5.3 years) and college graduates (5.2 years). (See table 4.)

Industry

In January 2026, wage and salary workers in the public sector had a median tenure of 5.6
years, considerably higher than the median for private-sector employees (3.9 years). One
factor behind this difference is age, as government workers tend to be older on average than
those in the private sector. Within the public sector, federal government employees had a 
higher median tenure at 7.0 years than state (5.4 years) and local government (5.4 years)
employees. (See table 5.)

Within the private sector, workers in financial activities (5.0 years); mining, quarrying, and
oil and gas extraction (4.9 years); manufacturing (4.9 years); and information (4.9 years) had
the highest tenure among major industries in January 2026. By contrast, workers in leisure and
hospitality had the lowest median tenure (2.4 years). These differences in tenure reflect many
factors, one of which is varying age distributions across the industries; workers in the major
industries with the highest tenure tend to be older than those in leisure and hospitality.

Occupation

Among the major occupation groups, workers in management, professional, and related
occupations had the highest median tenure in January 2026 (4.9 years). Within this group,
employees with jobs in management occupations (6.1 years) had the longest tenure. Workers in
service occupations, who are generally younger than people employed in management,
professional, and related occupations, had the lowest median tenure (2.9 years). Among
employees working in service occupations, workers in food preparation and serving related
occupations (2.2 years) and personal care and service occupations (2.8 years) had the lowest
median tenure. (See table 6.)