The median tenure for wage and salary workers fell to 3.9 years in January 2024, according to a US Bureau of Labor Statistics report released on Sept. 26. This marks a decline from 4.1 years in January 2022 and is the lowest since January 2002.

The bureau defines median employee tenure as the point where half of all workers have more tenure and half have less.

The median employee tenure for men was 4.2 years, down from 4.3 years in January 2022, while women had a median tenure of 3.6 years, down from 3.8 years. In January, 28% of wage and salary men had 10 years or more of tenure with their current employer, compared to 24% of women.

The survey noted that older workers generally had higher tenures; those aged 55 to 64 had a median tenure of 9.6 years, compared to 2.7 years for workers aged 25 to 34. Among workers aged 60 to 64, 52% had been with their employer for at least a decade compared to 21% of those aged 35 to 39.

When it comes to ethnicities, white workers led in long-term tenure, with 28% having 10 years or more years with their employers, followed by Asian workers, 25%; Black workers, 22%; and Hispanic workers, 22%. The survey noted that the higher share of long-tenured white workers was partly due to 23% of them being 55 and older.

Another important finding: 22% of workers had been with their employer for a year or less in January, down from 24% in 2022. This group includes new hires, re-employed workers and those who changed jobs.

The survey also found that younger workers were more likely to have a short tenure. Seventy percent of those aged 16 to 19 worked for 10 months or less with their employer, compared to 10% of those aged 55 to 64. For workers aged 25 and older, median tenure varied by education. Women with less than a high school diploma had a medium tenure of 3.8 years, associate degree holders 4.9 years and college graduates 4.7 years. For men, education level had less impact on median tenure.

Furthermore, public-sector workers had a median tenure of 6.2 years, compared to 3.5 years for private-sector employees. Age was a factor, with about three in four government workers aged 35 and over, compared to three in five in the private sector.

In the private sector, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction workers had the highest median tenure at 5.7 years, followed by manufacturing at 4.9 years and financial activities at 4.7 years.

Conversely, leisure and hospitality workers had the lowest median tenure at 2.1 years.

By occupation, management, professional and related jobs had the highest median tenure at 4.8 years, with management occupations at 5.7 years; education, training and library at 5.3 years; and architecture and engineering at 4.9 years.

Service occupations, generally comprising younger workers than people employed in management, professional and related occupations, had the lowest median tenure at 2.7 years, with food preparation and serving-related jobs and personal care and service jobs at just 2 and 2.5 years, respectively.