The median job tenure is nearly identical among employees across all generations, despite a prevailing myth that millennials and generation Z employees are more eager to switch jobs than their older colleagues, according to a new report by the National Institute on Retirement Security.
The report cited data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that found in 2024, employees aged 25 to 34 held their role for a median of 2.7 years, only slightly shorter than employees in the same age range in 1983, who held their role for three years. Notably, it found between 1983 and 2024, the median tenure of workers aged 35 to 44 consistently remained between four and six years.
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Employee benefits such as retirement savings plans are a significant factor in an employee’s decision to stay at their job, particularly within the public sector, the report said. It noted while roughly 86 per cent of state and local government employees have access to a defined benefit pension plan, just 15 per cent of private sector employers offer a DB plan.
It also examined the impact of the gig economy on employee attraction and retention. The report cited data from the Pew Research Center that found just 16 per cent of U.S. employees have earned income as a gig worker and, among these employees, only 31 per cent said gig work was their main source of income.
“Despite evidence that younger workers today are behaving much the same as younger workers did in the past, the idea that young people today change jobs more frequently and therefore want more ‘flexible’ benefits is still often cited,” the report said. “A simple look at readily available data shows that this is not true.”
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