If you take a look at Census Bureau data on why any given industry may experience job growth over a period of 10 years, retirement is usually listed as one of the reasons why certain fields will have an impressive percentage of job openings for the decade. But according to a new analysis by a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, “the median length of time on the job rose markedly during the recession, as fearful workers—particularly baby boomers—clung to their existing positions and a few new employees were hired on.”
The analysis, by Craig Copeland, is based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, which asks Americans about their job tenure every two years.
As of January 2010, workers reported they had been on the job a median of 5.2 years, up from 4.9 years in 2006. In 2010, 29.8% of all workers said they had been on the job for 10 years or more, up from 26.7% in 2006.
Among men aged 60 to 64 still working full time, 56.8% had held their current job for 10 years or more, up from 48.1% in January 2006 and 52.4% in January 2008. Such numbers indicate that aging boomers understand that finding a new job is tough for older folks. Indeed, according to a new analysis by the AARP of Department of Labor Statistics’ average duration of unemployment for older laid-off job seekers rose to 44.9 weeks in October.
Even in 2008, “people were switching careers,’’ says Copeland. “We even had a program where we were looking at how large employers were trying to retain their employees. But once the recession hit, that wasn’t a problem. Workers weren’t retiring.”
Other scary news for older Gen Y’ers and graduating seniors is: baby boomers are not the only workers holding on to their jobs. All workers are holding on to their jobs to avoid competing with, well, college graduates, older Gen Y’ers, and the more than 4.2 million unemployed workers currently looking for jobs.
Although the recession is officially over, Copeland is quick to remind Americans that, “the unemployment rate has barely budged; it stood at 9.8% in November compared to 10% the year before.”
For more information about the job outlook for all careers for the 2008-2018 decade, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook at http://www.bls.gov/oco/.
