为什么你父母一份工作干了20年？

最近,一项新的民意调查显示，在美国“婴儿潮”时代出生的人里，有40%在同一家单位工作了20年以上。但他们的儿孙辈则不太可能在同一家公司干这么久了。

此次民调由美联社（Associated Press）和NORC公共事务研究中心联合开展，共访问了1000余名50岁以上的美国中老年人。结果显示，41%的受访者已经在同一家公司工作了20年以上，其中还有18%的受访者甚至在同一家公司至少工作了30年。

不过即便是对于“婴儿潮”一代来说，这种趋势也是有年龄分层的，一般年龄越大者，在同一家公司里工作的时间就越长。而传统的养老金体系似乎也是让他们不愿挪窝的主要原因之一。

研究还发现，在这些至少在同一家公司干了20年的人中，至少有半数都对退休感到非常兴奋，但其中也有三分之一的人对退休后的生活感到焦虑。

这个星期四，61岁的大卫•麦奎因就要光荣退休了。他已经在一家名叫MiTek的建筑工程公司工作了30年。他的公司位于圣路易斯的郊区。他表示，他并非没有动过跳槽的念头，但他很喜欢自己的同事，也舍不得自己辛辛苦苦才熬到的公司高层职务，况且他还拿到了公司的股权。

“我很早就开始工作了，而且我这一辈子都是急急忙忙的。而我现在急着去做的，就是早点过上不急急忙忙的日子。”

麦奎因的例子也代表了很多“婴儿潮”一代人的人生轨迹，他们比后来的几代人对单位有着更深的感情。不过在这些中老年人中，也依然是有年龄分层的：在65岁及以上者中，有半数在同一家单位工作了20年以上；而在50到64岁者之中，只有三分之一的人在同一家单位干满了20年。

之所以会有这种区别，或许与工作态度的关系并不大，而更主要是由于职务和福利的变化。

调查显示，在那些在同一家公司干了20年以上的人中，大约有三分之二能够拿到养老金。而对于那些从没在同一家公司干过那么长时间的人来说，他们之中只有三分之一的人拿到了养老金。

这种“铁饭碗”式的养老金福利计划如今正在缓慢消失。来自美国劳工统计局（The Bureau of Labor Statistics）的数据显示，2011年，能够享受此类养老金计划的私营企业员工仅有18%，比起90年代早期的35%几乎下降了一半。目前在美国企业中更常见的，是401(k)之类的养老金计划，因为这一类的养老金计划更便于人员在企业间的流动。

美国劳工统计局的数据还表明，员工的年纪越大，一般在同一家公司工作的时间就越长。比如美国劳工统计局2014年1月的数据显示，对于45到54岁的人群，他们在一家公司平均效力的时间为7.9年；而对于55到54岁的人群，在一家公司平均效力的时间则为10.4年。

麻省理工学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology）老年研究中心（AgeLab）主任乔伊•科夫林指出：“看看人们现在拥有多少不同的选择。我是说，五年前，谁听说过社交媒体分析师这份工作？”

科夫林认为，劳动力市场人才流失率的升高，意味着企业必须更加努力地雇佣和挽留他们所需要的人才，而这就会形成杠杆。

“而‘千禧一代’会本能地以另一种角度看问题。他们曾亲眼见到父母被这些大企业裁员，所以他们对大企业的信任程度也比较低。”

克里斯蒂娜•格雷罗上世纪80年代中期曾在奥斯汀的布拉肯里奇医院（Brackenridge Hospita）当过护工，后来在该院申请了一份临床助理的工作。

她的这份工作干了17年，后来她跳槽到了附近的一家儿童医院。据她回忆，当时她之所以做出跳槽的决定，是因为把儿童抱到病床上要比移动成人更容易些，对腰部的压力更小。

格雷罗今年已经61岁了，她说：“我也曾想过找份其他的工作。但是那时候，几乎每家医院都要求我必须先回学校念书，至少要拿到GED文凭（大致相当于高中毕业证）。所以这也是我一直没换工作的一个主要原因。”

据美联社和NORC公共事务研究中心的这份调查显示，“婴儿潮”一代人中的相对年轻者，在过去五年里更倾向于回到学校再读读书。在50到64岁中的人中，这种比例高达30%；而在65岁以上的人中，则只有19%。

其中，大多数人都是为了接受额外的培训，原因要么是因为公司要求，要么是因为他们想学习一些新鲜或有趣的知识。只有17%表示他们之所以去接受培训，是想开始一份新的事业。

今年65岁的乔伊•亚伯拉罕在福特汽车公司（Ford Motor Co）干了36年的法务工作，他表示，他可以肯定地说，他在这三十多年里也“躲过了不少子弹。”

亚伯拉罕现在已经退休了。他表示，考虑到他从福特获得的加薪和福利，换工作显然是不值得的。另外，他也很喜欢他的同事。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

A new poll says more than 40% of America’s baby boomers stayed with their employer for more than 20 years. But it’s unlikely that their children or grandchildren will experience the same job tenure.

The survey of more than 1,000 Americans 50 and older by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 41% of those employed workers have spent two decades with the same company, including 18% who’ve stayed at least 30 years.

But it’s a trend more common among the older baby boomers than younger ones, and traditional pensions appear to be one of the driving factors.

Among those who have had at least 20 years with a single employer, the survey found that about half are excited about retirement, but a third are anxious about their post-work lives.

David McQuinn, 61, is retiring Tuesday after 30 years with MiTek, a construction and engineering firm in suburban St. Louis. He says there were times he thought about leaving but he liked his co-workers and his senior position and also owned stock in the company.

“I started working young and I’ve been a man in a hurry my whole life,” he says, “and now I’m in a hurry to not be in a hurry.”

His experience exemplifies a trait among boomers: more attachment to the company than the younger generations. But even among older Americans there’s a gap in employment tenure: Half of those aged 65 and up but only a third of those age 50 to 64 have stayed with the same employer for at least two decades.

The shift may be less about differences in attitude than changes in jobs—and benefits.

About two-thirds of those who stayed with one employer for 20 or more years had a pension, according to the survey, compared with only a third of those who had never stayed that long with one employer.

Those defined benefit pension plans are slowly disappearing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 18% of private workers were covered by these plans in 2011, down from 35% in the early 1990s. More common now are plans like 401(k)s, which are more portable from one employer to another.

The agency has reported that a larger proportion of older workers than younger workers had more tenure on the job. For example it said, in January 2014, the average tenure with the current employer was 7.9 years for people 45 to 54, compared to 10.4 years for those 55 to 64.

“Think of all the choices people have today. I mean, who ever heard of a social-media analyst five years ago?” says Joe Coughlin, the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab.

Coughlin says higher churn in the labor market also means companies will have to work harder to hire and retain the workers they need, and this creates leverage.

“Millennials think this way instinctively,” he said. “They’ve seen their parents laid off by these large corporations, so there is less trust.”

Christina Guerrero worked in the mid-1980s as a housekeeper at Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital before applying for and getting a job as a clinical assistant.

She kept that job for 17 years, before moving to a neighboring children’s hospital. Lifting children into hospital beds, she recalls, was easier on her back then moving adults.

“I thought about looking for other jobs, but almost any hospital these days would require me to go back to school to finish my GED, so that was a big reason for staying put,” says Guerrero, now 61.

According to the AP-NORC survey, younger baby boomers were much more likely to have gone back to school in the past five years: 30% of those age 50-64, compared to 19% of those 65 and older.

Most went for additional training because their employer required it or they wanted to learn something new or fun. Only 17% said they received training to start a new career.

Joe Abraham, 65, says he’s sure he “dodged a few bullets along the way” during his 36-year career as an attorney at Ford Motor Co.

Now retired, he says the raises and benefits he got from Ford were not worth giving up for something else. Plus, he just liked his colleagues.