In our teens and early twenties, we’re still figuring out what we want to be when we grow up. As we get older, we start to settle into a career. In between, we switch jobs in the search. Based on data from the Current Population Survey, this is when people make the switches and the jobs they switch to.



Peak Age for Job Switches Looking at the 100 most common jobs people switched to, a timeline comes into view when we adjust the relative switch rates by age. AGE IN YEARS 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers Switches to these occupations peaked during teenage years, probably first jobs for many. Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop Cafeteria attendants and misc. food preparation workers Misc. entertainment attendants and related workers Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession Food preparation workers Janitors and building cleaners Waiters and waitresses Cashiers Cleaners of vehicles and equipment Cooks Chefs and head cooks Welding, soldering, and brazing workers Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks Food preparation and serving workers, including fast food Child care workers Stock clerks and order fillers Retail salespersons Butchers and meat, poultry, and fish processing workers Billing and posting clerks and machine operators Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders Dishwashers Miscellaneous agricultural workers Customer service representatives Driver/sales workers and truck drivers Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand Sales and related workers, all other Preschool and kindergarten teachers Postsecondary teachers Teacher assistants Security guards and gaming surveillance officers Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators Secretaries and administrative assistants Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides Computer systems analysts Data entry keyers Recreation and fitness workers There is a lot of change in our twenties. Tellers Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers Registered nurses Food service managers Elementary and middle school teachers Personal and home care aides Receptionists and information clerks Medical assistants Health practitioner support technologists and technicians Computer support specialists Managers of food preparation and serving workers Sales representatives, services, all other Designers Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing Other teachers and instructors Office clerks, general Maids and housekeeping cleaners Secondary school teachers Social workers Painters, construction and maintenance Industrial truck and tractor operators Automotive service technicians and mechanics Carpenters Grounds maintenance workers First−line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers File clerks Office and administrative support workers, all other Bartenders Packers and packagers, hand Financial managers Production workers, all other Construction laborers Taxi drivers and chauffeurs Marketing and sales managers Maintenance and repair workers, general Computer occupations, all other Software developers, applications and systems software Physicians and surgeons Counselors Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses Accountants and auditors Human resource workers Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks Occupation switches after thirty commonly reflect experience and education. Construction managers Chief executives Education administrators Real estate brokers and sales agents Managers, all other Miscellaneous personal appearance workers General and operations managers Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters Insurance sales agents Metalworkers and plastic workers,all others Management analysts Property, real estate, and community association managers Medical and health services managers Bus drivers First−line managers of administrative support workers Lawyers, Judges, magistrates, and other judicial workers Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products Supervisors/managers of non−retail sales workers Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 AGE IN YEARS AGE IN YEARS 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 Athletes, coaches, and related Hosts and hostesses Teenage years Cafeteria attendants Misc. entertainment attendants Counter attendants Food preparation workers Janitors and building cleaners Waiters and waitresses Cashiers Cleaners of vehicles and equipment Cooks Chefs and head cooks Welding, soldering workers Shipping, receiving clerks Food preparation and serving workers Child care workers Stock clerks and order fillers Retail salespersons Butchers and other meat processing Billing clerks and machine operators Packaging machine operators Dishwashers Miscellaneous agricultural workers Customer service representatives Driver workers and truck drivers Laborers and freight Sales and related workers, all other Preschool and kindergarten teachers Postsecondary teachers Teacher assistants Security guards Miscellaneous assemblers Secretaries and admin. assistants Nursing and home health aides Computer systems analysts Data entry keyers Recreation and fitness workers Tellers Inspectors, testers, sorters Registered nurses Twenties Food service managers Elem. and middle school teachers Personal and home care aides Receptionists and information clerks Medical assistants Health practitioner support tech. Computer support specialists Managers of food preparation workers Sales representatives, services Designers Hairdressers and cosmetologists Sales representatives Other teachers and instructors Office clerks, general Maids and housekeeping cleaners Secondary school teachers Social workers Painters, construction Industrial truck and tractor ops. Automotive service technicians Carpenters Grounds maintenance workers Managers of retail sales workers File clerks Office and admin. support workers Bartenders Packers and packagers, hand Financial managers Production workers, all other Construction laborers Taxi drivers and chauffeurs Marketing and sales managers Maintenance and repair workers Computer occupations, all other Software developers Physicians and surgeons Counselors Licensed practical vocational nurses Accountants and auditors Human resource workers Bookkeeping and accounting clerks Construction managers Chief executives Education administrators Real estate brokers and sales agents After Thirty Managers, all other Personal appearance workers General and operations managers Pipelayers, plumbers Insurance sales agents Metalworkers and plastic workers Management analysts Property managers Medical and health services managers Bus drivers Managers of admin. support workers Lawyers, Judges, and Magistrates Wholesale and retail buyers Managers of non−retail sales workers Farming and Ranching Managers 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 AGE IN YEARS

More specifically, the data comes from about 113,000 survey participants who switched jobs between 2011 and 2018. The Current Population Survey asks for occupation and occupation from the previous year.

The chart above shows the rate by age, relative to the total number of people who switched to each job. So you see a lot of switching in the early years, and then things seem to settle down at older ages. If someone takes a new job when they’re older, it tends towards management or jobs that require more education.

You get a similar pattern when you look at switch rates overall, as shown below.

Switching by Age Out of the people who worked, the percentage who worked a different job the year before drops a lot by mid-20s. There’s another shift post-retirement. Figuring things out during the early years. 30% 25% Time for something new after retirement? 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 30-34 60-64 75-79 25-29 35-39 50-54 55-59 65-69 80-84 85-89 15-19 20-24 40-44 45-49 70-74 AGE IN YEARS Figuring things out during the early years. 30% Time for something new after retirement? 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 AGE IN YEARS

The sudden increase after retirement age is interesting. Remember that this is out of people who are still working, so I suspect a new interest after retirement, or more likely, a need for a new source of income.

Switching Jobs Given any occupation, here’s where people switch to.

Notes