Workers Experience Less Job Stability

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Even though most Americans still have full-time, permanent employment, the nature of this employment has changed. One aspect is declining employment tenure. As new companies spring up and established companies respond to change and competition, fewer and fewer workers can look forward to long careers with a single employer. Employees must now continually reinvent themselves throughout their working lives, even if they remain with the same employer.

THE TREND: At first glance, median job tenure appears to have been holding steady. This is largely because as women have been in the labor force longer their tenure has been on the rise, and as the Baby Boom generation ages it moves into more senior positions where tenure is longer. But men's median tenure fell between 1983 and 1996 in nearly every age group. For example, tenure for men aged 45 to 54 fell from 12.8 to 10.1 years. Job tenure in the United States is half as long as it is in other OECD nations. These changes help explain why many Americans are anxious about the New Economy, particularly since many people affected may not be choosing these arrangements voluntarily. One reason some workers may be changing jobs more often, however, is that the costs of switching jobs have dropped during the 1980s, to the point where workers who changed jobs every other year had almost the same earnings after 10 years as those who had kept their jobs for 10 years.³⁶

THE DATA:

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Productivity Paradox | Knowledge Economy
Nine Myths | Data Sources | Endnotes | The Authors

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