Do Employees Today Really Only Stay One or Two Years?

In a word, no. In a few words, the data show that when they are actually employed (...) they stay longer in their jobs today than they did a generation ago. Just sayin.' JL

David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom report in Forbes:

Assumptions in the corporate world today unfairly label employees as un-dedicated. They label an entire generation as “job-hoppers.” All of these assumptions are dangerous and costly. According to research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees today stay longer with a company than they did 25 years ago.
It’s time to put an end to the popular myth. For some reason, a lot of employers are running around with the assumption that employees only plan on staying with a company for one or two years. This myth has permeated the business world and even leaked its way into reputable online publications—being voiced by supposedly reputable people. But, it’s wrong—dead wrong.
Before we give you the truth about what employees really want from a job and a career, take this short Pop Quiz. Think about some of the comments you probably have heard recently about today’s employee. Are these true or false?
True or False? “People are not interested in building a career with one organization.”
True or False? “Gone are the days of commitment and loyalty between an organization and an individual.”
True or False? “Millennials are quick to jump to the next place that piques their interest.”
All of these commonly heard comments are, according to research, false. Still, assumptions in the corporate world today unfairly label employees as un-dedicated. They label an entire generation as “job-hoppers.” And, they speculate that there’s some sort of internal psychological time frame that employees are willing to stay with a company. All of these assumptions are dangerous and costly.
It may surprise you, but according to research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees today stay longer with a company than they did 25 years ago. In 1983, the average employee tenure was around 3.5 years. Fifteen years later, in 1998, people stayed on the job an average of 3.6 years before leaving. In 2014, the average employee stayed 4.6 years. This rise, by the way, includes passing through four recessions from 1983 – 2014.