Dive Brief:

• The average tenure at a major tech company, such as Google and Amazon, is two years with the exception of legacy providers like HP and IBM, according to research from PayScale. Employees remain at HP for an average of six years, while employees at IBM stay for an average of seven years. 
• Of the 52 companies researched, PayScale found the average industry career experience ranged from five to six years. Older companies like HP and IBM all averaged 10 years of work experience in the industry.
• While salary averages remained relatively comparable, discrepancies in stress levels and global purpose ranged. PayScale reported 64% of Amazon's employees feeling overly stressed to Google's 48%. In response to the question, "does your work make the world a better place?" only 41% of HP employees said yes to the 77% of Tesla Motors. 

Dive Insight:

Competition in the tech industry is ever present, creating a revolving door of opportunity for employees. However, in accordance with competition, the other contributor to shortened tenure might be elevated stress levels despite handsome salaries. The tech industry has been accused of a barrage of complaints ranging from no transparency, sexism and a lack of diversity in gender, race and age. 

Workplace culture, including employeers gaining the approval of employees, can be a challenge for some companies as showcased in Amazon's 45% approval rating. However, while Twitter's employees responded positively to their employer with 62% approval, 70% of employees are planning on finding another job in the next six months. Tech employers are actively looking for flexible solutions to promote a valued employee environment.

Flexible employment abilities are only part of maintaining a lead in the battle for the best tech talent. Part of tenure longevity resides in opportunity to create. From within the enterprise, CIOs are reportedly happier than ever in their role, according to a 2017 study.

CIOs acknowledge being in an expected limited tenure for C-suite positions but in spite of that, CIOs that feel they can advance innovation put more value in their position and their company's global purpose. This is reflective in Facebook's 79% and Google's 70% of employees regarding their companies' global purpose as very satisfactory and impactful.