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.
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.
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 tenure 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.
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 percent of black, and 21 percent of Asian workers. The shorter tenure among Hispanics can be explained, in part, by their relative 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.
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 tenure.
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 explained, in part, by a higher share of workers age 35 and over among government workers than in the private sector. About 3 in 4 government workers were age 35 and over, compared with about 3 out of 5 private 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.
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 (2.1years). These differences in tenure reflect many factors, one of which is varying age distributions across industries; workers in manufacturing tend to be older on average than workers in leisure and hospitality.
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, professional, 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.
