CHICAGO, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A record 1,478 U.S. chief executives left their jobs in 2006, nearly 200 more than the previous record 1,322 a year earlier, an outplacement report said Monday.
CEO departures did not slow during the December holidays, with 131 leaving, 16 percent more than the 113 November departures and 39 percent more than in December 2005, the Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. study found.
During the year an average 123 chief executives left their positions each month, or about one every 80 minutes in an eight-hour day.
The highest CEO turnover was in healthcare, followed by finance and computers, the study found.
In addition, "time to prove oneself is rapidly shrinking," with more than 30 percent of outgoing CEOs leaving after two to five years on the job, Challenger CEO John Challenger said.
