OpenAI’s visible technical staff has a median tenure of 17 months. People with under 12 months are 1,054, or 35% of the 3,041-person technical staff. People at 12 to 24 months are 907, or 30%. A large share of the visible bench is still inside a short tenure window. Tenure here is time in the current OpenAI spell on public profiles, not official workforce tenure, and it is not the same figure as the 13-year median career experience.
Reach the short-tenure layer
Median tenure is 17 months. Under 12 months is 1,054 of the visible technical staff (35%).
OpenAI technical-staff tenure
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Median tenure | 17 months |
| Under 12 months | 1,054 (35%) |
| 12 to 24 months | 907 (30%) |
| Technical staff denominator | 3,041 |
Source: OpenAI Engineering Talent X-Ray · Metix AI · report date 2026-06-15
Scope and limits
- Public profiles may contain update lags, self-presentation bias, and inconsistent titles.
- Figures are a visible sample for relative comparison. They are not official headcount and are not used to estimate a global workforce.
- The 35% and 30% shares use the technical-staff sample. Do not treat 17 months of tenure as 13 years of career experience.
Back to OpenAI Engineering Talent X-Ray
FAQ
Is 17 months career experience?
No. Median career experience on the PhD page is 13 years. 17 months is tenure in the current OpenAI spell.
What is the denominator for 35%?
1,054 is 35% of the 3,041-person technical staff.
Are the two tenure bands additive to 100%?
This page only publishes the under-12-month band and the 12-to-24-month band. It does not invent the remainder.
Is this official tenure?
No. It is computed from visible profile timelines.
Where is the method, and how do I cite this figure?
The method page is https://metix.ai/reports/methodology. Cite this answer with this page’s URL https://metix.ai/reports/questions/openai-tenure. The parent map is https://metix.ai/reports/mapping/openai-engineering-xray-2026. Report date 2026-06-15.
How to cite
Metix AI. (2026). How new is OpenAI’s engineering team? Metix AI Talent Intelligence. https://metix.ai/reports/questions/openai-tenure
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