It's a Temp Thing
Get hired by a good company, love the work, move up through the ranks and retire with generous benefits.
Sounds great, right? Sorry, but it’s no longer as easy as that – and hasn’t been for three decades.
The median tenure of U.S. workers in 2016 was 4.2 years, a decrease from 1983, when the median was 5 years, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
“People have the rosy idea that in the past, everyone worked at the same employer,” says Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research associate, “but it’s an idealized view.”
Actually, for some talented workers, the present is looking comparatively rosy, say workplace experts.
“Market conditions have changed from five years ago – we see a much stronger economy and growing job market,” says Margaret-Ann Cole, managing director and human resource disruptor, Accenture, New York City.
In a good economy with low unemployment, “employers always have to worry that good talent can slip away from them,” Cole notes.
To keep workers, companies will need to offer competitive salaries and benefits, says Copeland. Flexible work arrangements are another way companies keep hold of older workers who are thinking about retirement.
But benefits and salary aren’t always enough, says Cole. If they stay, workers – especially Millennials – do so because they are given the chance “develop, grow and advance” within a company.
Experts say only a minority of firms have a strategy to keep workers engaged by offering growth and challenge.
In an improving economy, more workers are emboldened to look for other opportunities, says Cole. “If you have a few people leave a job, it can create a domino effect.”
And that means that the lifetime company workers will remain a rosy myth.