HR glossary
Work anniversary
A work anniversary is the yearly date marking how long an employee has been with their organization.
A work anniversary marks each year since someone joined. First, fifth and tenth anniversaries are the ones most companies celebrate with something extra.
Even a short message from a manager on the day matters. Missing it, especially a big one, stings. Keep start dates accurate in your HR system and set up reminders.
Ask before you celebrate publicly. Some people love a channel full of messages and some would rather keep it quiet.
How long people stay
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median US wage and salary worker had been with their current employer for 4.1 years in January 2026, up from 3.9 years in January 2024.1
The first anniversary is the one many people never reach. In January 2026, 20.6% of wage and salary workers had a year or less of tenure with their employer.1 Tenure also rises steeply with age: the median for workers aged 55 to 64 was 9.6 years, more than three times the 3.0 years for workers aged 25 to 34.
For HR, this means a first-year check-in and a first anniversary message reach a big slice of the workforce at a point when many are still deciding whether to stay.
Shuffl · HR by the numbers
Workers who haven’t reached a first anniversary
Workers who haven’t reached a first anniversary: 20.6% of US wage and salary workers had a year or less with their employer in January 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2026.
An example
A 180-person manufacturer buys a smaller machine shop and moves its 22 employees into the HR system with the acquisition date as their start date. A year later, a machinist who has worked in that building for 12 years gets an automated “Happy 1st anniversary” message.
HR adds an adjusted service date field, fills it in from the old company’s records, and writes a one-paragraph policy: prior service counts for anniversaries and for any tenure-based benefits. The next week, the 12 people with more than 10 years of prior service get a proper milestone note from the plant manager.
How to get anniversaries right
- Decide which date counts for rehires, acquisitions and contractors who converted, and write it down.
- Audit start dates once a year. Wrong dates are more common after system migrations and acquisitions.
- Give managers a week’s notice so the message comes from them, on the day.
- Mark the first year and the round-number years with something extra, even if it’s small.
- Ask new hires whether they’re happy to be celebrated publicly, and respect the answer.
Common questions
- How should companies celebrate work anniversaries?
- A public message from the manager or team, a handwritten note, or a small gift on milestone years.
- Which date counts for a work anniversary?
- Most companies use the original hire date. For rehires, policies differ, so write yours down.
Sources
Read on . Numbers change as new studies come out, so check the source before you quote it.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure in 2026, September 2026. January 2026 supplement to the Current Population Survey, a monthly sample of about 60,000 households. Covers wage and salary workers.