A recent Manpower survey indicated “A Brand New Phenomenon”  or at least that is how it is being portrayed.  According to the survey results, 61% of college students and recent grads say they will stay in their job less than three years.  I have no problem with the results, they validate my own work with younger workers.  What does disturb me is that this news is seen as “new”.  Trust me, it’s not.

The government puts out a Employee TenureSummary every two years or so. Back in 1996, the average tenure for a 20-24 year old was 1.2 years.  In January of 2006, it rose to a staggering 1.3 years.  NEW NEWS OR BAD NEWS?

It doesn’t get any better…  In 1996, employees 25-34 years of age stayed in their job 2.8 years.  In January 2006, the average tenure of this group was 2.9 years.  NEW NEWS OR BAD NEWS?

The average tenure for 35-44 year olds actually dropped over the ten years, from 5.3 years in 1996 to 4.9 years in 2006.  For 45-54 year olds, tenure dropped over the ten years from 8.3 years to 7.3 years.  55-64 year old tenure dropped from 10.2 years to 9.3 years over the decade.  Tenure for those 65 and older increased slightly from 8.4 years to 8.8 years.  NEW NEWS OR BAD NEWS?

One more time folks.  The average employee has 13-15 jobs over the course of their career, 7 by the time they are 30.  The goal isn’t to keep an employee forever, it’s to keep them with you longer. 

This ain’t rocket science folks….