By Demetrius Moffett

Commitment, dedication and consistency are words that are becoming lost when we speak of employment.

To my surprise, there are more and more businesses that are no longer offering retirement packages but looking to match into a 401K. This may lend itself to why those under the age of 40 don’t stay on jobs that long.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 4.2 years in January 2016, down from 4.6 years in January 2014. Median employee tenure was generally higher among older workers than younger ones.

For example, the median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 (10.1 years) was more than three times that of workers ages 25 to 34 years (2.8 years). Also, a larger proportion of older workers than younger workers had 10 years or more of tenure. Among workers ages 60 to 64, 55 percent were employed for at least 10 years with their current employer in January 2016, compared with only 13 percent of those ages 30 to 34.

Looking at this decrease in tenure in employment, it challenged me to look at the tenure in relationships.

Census data from 2012 shows that 7.8 million couples are living together without walking down the aisle, compared to 2.9 million in 1996. And two-thirds of couples married in 2012 shared a home together for more than two years before they ever waltzed down an aisle.

Between 2006 and 2010, nearly half of heterosexual women (48 percent) ages 15 to 44 said they were not married to their spouse or partner when they first lived with them, the report says. That’s up from 43 percent in 2002, and 34 percent in 1995. (www.livescience.com)

What is so attractive about being a contractor or sub-contractor in relationships? You’re doing the same work for less pay with no retirement benefits. If you heart requires a full-time staffer, don’t hire part-time staff. The same goes for those who enter into relationships with people who are already in relationships. Why enter or continue in a relationship being a contractor when you possess the skill to be a full-time employee?

In your relationship, are you looking for someone or to be someone matching a 401K? Or are you looking for employment with retirement benefits? The true answer is in who you staff or how you’re staffed.