Americans Staying at Jobs Longer, Even if Unhappy

Fewer opportunities force us to bite the bullet

Americans who have jobs are staying at them longer, according to new research. The median length of time people have been at their jobs is 5.4 years; in 2010, it was 5.2, and three decades ago, it was 5, the Employee Benefit Research Institute reported. But Craig Copeland, the study's author and senior research associate at EBRI, says it's not because we love our jobs so much. "It seems like people who have jobs in this economy are holding onto them if they have a choice," he said, suggesting that when the economy is thriving, people switch jobs more often in search of better pay, benefits, or advancement, but in this economy, we're happy just to have our jobs. The group's research also found that the once distinct disparity between men and women's job tenures has now entirely vanished. While male workers' median job tenure slipped from 5.9 years in 1983 to 5.5 years today, the median tenure of female workers climbed from 4.2 years to 5.4 years over the same time period. (Today)

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