In the United States, the median tenure for a worker at one job is 4.6 years. And while job-hopping is the "new normal" for a new generation of U.S. workers, some companies are better than others at keeping their employees.

In a new report, Payscale looks at employee loyalty at Fortune 500 companies.

Here's the top 20 least loyal companies:

But while happy workers can improve loyalty and help your business thrive , it's not just unhappy workers who are leaving. For example, Eastman Kodak Company has a median tenure of 20 years (the highest tenure on the Fortune 500) but only 45 percent of employees report a high job satisfaction. And it's not always elaborate Google-esque perks that are helping retain employees, as we can see by Google being near the top of the list.

For these companies, an improved economy could have something to do with it.

"As the economy continues to improve, jobs will become more plentiful," said Katie Bardaro, lead economist for PayScale. "This creates options for people with in-demand skills, and the chance that top performers will jump ship increases. In this environment, companies will need to evaluate what causes employees to leave and improve these areas, such as pay, work environment, vacation policies, etc., before loyalty reduces further."

But other trends that are less easy or impossible to control also play a part. For example, location can be an important factor in loyalty. If your company is located in a non-major metro area then your employees will, on average, stay with you longer. If you're the major employer in town, you might be the best option even if employee satisfaction is low.

Also, the nature of the work can have an impact on loyalty. Workers in the manufacturing firms topped the list of most loyal employees averaging a nine year median tenure among the top companies. On the other hand the retail industry has the least loyal employees with a median tenure of 2.8 years.

That's not to say that it's all out of your hands. Knowing your employees and what they want -- from flexible hours to purposeful work -- can be important factors in whether workers stay or go.

[h/t Business Insider]

Photo: Flickr/kandyjaxx

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com