The frequency of job changes reflects the loss of job security, said Bates economics professor James Hughes. The notion of a lifetime career has diminished with the decline of organized labor and company pension plans, which encouraged long tenure among workers, Hughes said.

Workers are now increasingly mobile, and employers often expect employees to move on to advance their careers. “The whole ‘company man’ idea — there was something to that in the ’60s and ’70s. But now you would be hard pressed, in the service sector particularly, to be at the same firm your whole life,” he said. [More...]