U.S.: the company with the longest average tenure is ConocoPhillips (10.6 years), and the company with the shortest is Apple (1.7 years).

ConocoPhillips, Alaska's largest crude oil producer, leads a U.S. employee retention top ten dominated by energy and engineering companies by a considerable margin. The company offers university scholarships to attract young talent and “challenging and rewarding projects around the world” for military veterans looking to transition into secure yet exciting work.

Altria Group, in joint second place, is the only retailer company in the top 20. The cigarette company is currently embroiled in an existential struggle to pivot to smokeless tobacco. But its employees are accustomed to new challenges: from the very start, they move between roles and departments, in a “thoughtful and purposeful” process partly designed to highlight underused potential

Several of America’s most famous brands are among those that most struggle to retain talent. Tesla, Goldman Sachs, Netflix, Mastercard and Alphabet (Google) are all among the bottom 20. And the three worst performers — Apple, Amazon and Meta (Facebook) — all struggle to hold employees for more than two years.

Just a couple of years ago, Apple was being lauded for its retention strategies. But then, in an apparently misguided attempt to dissuade some engineers from defecting to Meta or elsewhere, Apple offered stocks worth $50,000 to $180,000 to stay loyal. Observers claim this created divisions in the company, while even those who were offered the bonus were left feeling strangely undervalued by the payoff, particularly with deeper workplace issues left unattended.