New report challenges stereotype of young workers as serial job-hoppers
Young workers across the world have a reputation for being job-hoppers, but a new report debunks this myth by looking at job retention patterns.
Research from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) shows that younger workers today are displaying job retention patterns similar to those of previous generations at the same career stage.
This means Gen Z and Millennials are remaining in their jobs at rates similar to Baby Boomers and Gen X when they were the same age.
"Younger workers have always changed jobs more often than older workers as they find their career path. That was true for Baby Boomers, Gen X, and it remains true today," said NIRS executive director Dan Doonan in a statement.
What is job-hopping?
Job-hopping refers to the practice of changing jobs frequently, often holding several positions within a relatively short period.
The practice is often strongly associated with younger employees, especially Gen Z. In fact, a 2023 report from ResumeLab found that 83% of Gen Z workers in the US considered themselves job hoppers.
But the NIRS report, which looked at employment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated that shorter job tenure among younger workers is not a new trend.
According to the report, employees aged 25 to 34 in 1983 — now part of the Baby Boomer generation — had a median job tenure of three years.
Similarly, employees between 25 and 34 years old in 2024, an assortment of Millennials and Gen Zs, logged a median job tenure of 2.7 years.
"In other words, the median Baby Boomers only stayed at their jobs for a few months longer when they were young than Generation Z and Millennials in 2024," the report read.
Doonan said the findings indicate that generational differences are not the reason behind turnover.
"These findings should put to rest the myth that Millennials and Gen Z inherently are job hoppers," he said. "The real drivers of turnover are the economy, benefits, and job opportunities, not generational differences."
The report further added that younger workers will always have shorter average and median tenures because they haven't had the time to be employed for as long.
"Younger workers will change jobs more frequently than older workers as they look for the job or career that is right for them. But these are not new phenomena," it added.
What this means for employers
The myth that younger employees today are job-hoppers has led to doubts about whether defined benefit pension plans would be appealing to this generation of employees, according to the report.
But it urged employers and policymakers to be cautious about the job hopping myth in developing retirement benefits.
"The notion that workers in the future would not be interested in a job perk such as a defined benefit pension because they are likely to leave that job quickly isn't supported by the data," it stated.
"Retirement may not be top of mind for a young worker with more immediate financial concerns, but a robust retirement benefit is likely something they will come to appreciate as they move through life's various stages, just as prior generations did."
