🚧 The Loyalty Drop-Off: What Shorter Employee Tenure Means for Construction Companies
TJ Kastning
The average American employee now stays just 4.1 years at a job—a number that keeps shrinking. In construction, it’s even shorter in many roles. And if you’ve tried hiring lately, you’ve probably felt it.
This trend isn’t just a generational quirk or a symptom of job-hopping culture. It’s a signal.
And smart construction leaders are treating it like one.
📉 The Reality: Tenure Is Down, Risk Is Up
A generation ago, a new hire might stay with you for a decade. Now? You’re lucky if it’s 2–3 years. According to the data:
- Average job tenure across all workers is 4.1 years
👉 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sept 2022 - For workers aged 25–34, average tenure is just 2.8 years
👉 BLS, Sept 2022 - Only 29% of U.S. workers expect to stay at their job long-term
👉 Maarthandam.com, March 2025
And when someone leaves, the cost hits hard: productivity loss, morale drag, recruiting time, and re-training expenses.
🧱 Why This Hits Construction Harder
Construction isn’t retail. You can’t just backfill a role with anyone off the street.
Most field and management roles require:
- Hard-won tribal knowledge (every company and jobsite runs differently)
- High trust relationships with coworkers, subs, and clients
- Deep familiarity with documentation systems, safety protocols, and internal expectations
So when someone leaves early, it sets you back months, not weeks.
🔍 What’s Driving Shorter Tenure?
From our experience working with construction companies nationwide, here’s what’s behind the shift:
1. Mismatched expectations during hiring
Candidates join thinking it’s one thing, but get hit with something else. That breeds frustration and early exits.
2. Lack of onboarding and feedback loops
Most firms have a solid safety orientation. But leadership onboarding? Team integration? Growth conversations? Not so much.
3. Poor leadership compatibility
The #1 reason candidates ghost or leave early? Misalignment with their direct manager. Not pay. Not commute. Not even workload.
4. No clear path forward
When people can’t see how they’ll grow with you, they assume they won’t—and start looking elsewhere.
🧭 What to Do Differently
Hiring isn’t just about skill. It’s about fit, clarity, and follow-through. If you want to beat the short-tenure trend, start here:
✅ Interview for reality, not idealism
Don’t just sell the job. Use interviews to dig into workstyle, communication habits, and decision-making. Paint an honest picture of your company, not just the highlight reel.
✅ Use tools like the ProfileXT
We use PXT to match candidates and leaders based on how they actually operate—not just how they present in interviews. It’s like pre-boarding your relationship before you hire.
✅ Prioritize onboarding and check-ins
Retention starts before day one. Assign mentors. Set 30-60-90 day goals. And, most importantly, listen during regular check-ins.
✅ Align on leadership fit early
If a candidate can’t thrive under your current leaders, no amount of pay or perks will keep them. Get ahead of that before the offer.
🛠️ A Good Hire Is Only the Beginning
The data is clear: short tenure isn’t going away.
But companies who adapt—who rethink how they hire, onboard, and lead—will build teams that last longer, grow stronger, and outperform the rest.
We’ve helped dozens of construction companies do exactly that—without bloating the hiring process or overwhelming your team.
👉 Schedule an exploratory call
1️⃣ We evaluate your current hiring pain and goals
2️⃣ We walk you through how Ambassador Group’s recruiting + PXT process works
3️⃣ We decide together if we’re a fit
Don’t wait until your best people leave to fix your hiring strategy.
Use this trend as a wake-up call—not a white flag.
