---
title: How Long Do People in Japan Stay at One Company?
description: Japan's 12.4-year average tenure is a mean; the US 3.9 years is a median. Japan's median is 5 to 9 years. Order talent-map outreach by tenure band.
image: https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/japan-employee-tenure-cover-en.png
---

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[Japan by the Numbers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/tag/japan-by-the-numbers)

# How Long Do People in Japan Stay at One Company?

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en)

![Average tenure in Japan is 12.4 years; the estimated median is 5 to 9 years](https://nobusato.jp/hs-fs/hubfs/japan-employee-tenure-cover-en.png?width=1200&height=630&name=japan-employee-tenure-cover-en.png)

Employees in Japan stay with one company for 12.4 years on average. In the US the figure is 3.9 years. The comparison is often used to show that people in Japan do not move.

But the two numbers are not comparable. Japan's 12.4 is a mean. The US 3.9 is a median.

## Mean and median

In JILPT's international comparison, Japan's figure comes from the Basic Survey on Wage Structure: regular employees at private establishments at the end of June 2024, excluding short-hour workers, reported as average tenure. The US figure is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics release on employee tenure, as of January 2024, reported as a median. European countries and Korea use OECD averages, from 6.4 years in Korea to 11.7 in Italy.

Tenure is right-skewed. A minority who stay twenty or thirty years pull the mean up. In Japan, 22.7% of employees have 20 years or more, and that group lifts the average a great deal.

Japan, mean12.4Japan, median (est. band)between 5 and 9US, median3.90510yearsSource: JILPT Databook 2026, Tables 3-13-1, 3-13-2; median band estimated

**Fig. 1**Japan’s mean is 12.4 years, but its distribution puts the median in the 5 to 9 year band. The US 3.9 years is a median. The gap is real, just not as wide as 12.4 against 3.9.

Adding up Japan's distribution from the short end, 33.4% have under five years; adding the 19.9% at five to nine years takes it to 53.3%. So the median employee in Japan has somewhere between five and nine years. That is longer than the US 3.9 years, but not three times longer.

## A talent map needs the distribution

0%10%20%8.6%\<1 yr14.4%1–210.4%3–419.9%5–912.5%10–1411.4%15–1922.7%20+Median bandYears of serviceSource: JILPT Databook 2026, Table 3-13-1 (Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2024)

**Fig. 2**Japan’s employees by length of service, 2024. 23.0% have under three years and 22.7% have twenty or more. The two ends are about equally thick.

An average of 12.4 years describes a typical employee who does not exist. Both ends are thick: 23.0% under three years, 22.7% at twenty or more.

Company size matters too. In 2025, large companies averaged 14.1 years of tenure at an average age of 43.4; small companies 11.5 years at 46.0. Older staff with shorter tenure suggests more mid-career entrants at small companies. Men average 14.2 years, women 10.4.

## Order your outreach by tenure band

Most candidates are passive and will not apply. On a [talent map](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/talent-map-is-not-a-list?hsLang=en), tenure is one of the few signals you can infer from outside that is closely tied to whether someone will move. The [job-change rate data](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/japan-job-change-rate?hsLang=en) also showed that movers are mostly young. I would split it roughly like this:

- Under five years: the most movable band. Switching costs are low and experience is still building. Good for roles with room to grow; lead with scope and development.
- Five to nine years: experience has taken shape, but firm-specific knowledge and networks have not locked the person in. For core roles, look here first. Timing often follows promotion points or reorganizations.
- Ten to nineteen years: deep internal knowledge, and moving needs a concrete reason. Suited to head-of roles; bring a clear position and authority, not a vague opportunity.
- Twenty years or more: rarely moves on their own. Exceptions come with early retirement schemes or restructuring. Advisory or part-time arrangements can be a way to start the relationship.

This is an ordering, not a filter. Long-tenured people can move. They need different reasons and more time.

## What I am not sure about

First, I could not find reliable first-hand public data on average tenure split by foreign-owned and Japanese companies, so this post leaves that out.

Second, Japan's median is my estimate of where it falls in JILPT's banded distribution, not a published figure. Japan's data excludes short-hour workers, and coverage differs across countries.

Third, tenure counts years at the current employer only. It does not show how many times someone moved before. Three years of tenure can be a first job or a fourth.

Have you ever sorted the candidates on your talent map by tenure?

Sources

- [JILPT, Databook of International Labour Statistics 2026, Table 3-13-2: tenure by sex and age (Japan 12.4 is a mean, US 3.9 a median) (Japanese)](https://www.jil.go.jp/kokunai/statistics/databook/2026/03/d2026_3T-13-2.pdf)
- [Same, Table 3-13-1: employees by length of service (Japan 2024) (Japanese)](https://www.jil.go.jp/kokunai/statistics/databook/2026/03/d2026_3T-13-1.pdf)
- [MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, by company size: average age and tenure (Japanese)](https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/chingin/kouzou/z2025/dl/04.pdf)
- [Same, by sex: average tenure 14.2 years for men, 10.4 for women (Japanese)](https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/chingin/kouzou/z2025/dl/02.pdf)

---

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