Technical Note
The data in this news release were collected through a supplement to the January 2024 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 2024 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.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.
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 samples 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.
Information about the reliability of data from the CPS and guidance on estimating standard
errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.
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 people, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with
unincorporated businesses.
In the CPS supplement, questions on tenure were asked of all employed people. 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.
United States Department of Labor
