Nintendo's 98% staff retention rate means the average employee has been there 15 years

Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo Co., speaks during a news conference in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Nintendo gave a double dose of disappointment by posting earnings below analyst estimates and signaled that it would not introduce a highly anticipated new model of the Switch game console at a June trade show. Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Credit: Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg)

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Good morning. When experienced employees leave–whether they get laid off, or jump ship for a better opportunity–they take their years, if not decades, of experience with them. Over time, the company loses that institutional knowledge.

But what happens when a company excels at keeping its workers? 

Nintendo, the Japanese video game giant, is an example. Its Japanese employees spend an average of 15 years at the company, which boasts a yearly retention rate of 98%. That’s not just better than the layoff-prone video game industry, it’s better than most of Japan. The average Japanese worker spends 11 years at their company; in the U.S., that number is closer to four.