Years of Service program celebrates milestones, achievements at Penn State

The Years of Service program, launched November 2024, continues to recognize and reward Penn State employees for career milestones. Since its launch, nearly 5,800 employees have celebrated a workplace anniversary milestone.

The Years of Service program recognizes employees for one- and three-year anniversaries as well as five-year milestones achieved between five and 50 years. Acknowledgement for those anniversaries include a yearbook, which provides an opportunity for managers and peers to share celebratory comments, photos and videos. For each five-year milestone, opportunities are available for additional gifts.

Of those who have been recognized so far, 2,750 were for between five- and 50 years of work at Penn State, and the other 3,042 were for one- and three-year anniversaries.

“This program is one of the many ways Penn State tells each employee that their work is valuable and appreciated, and that both the University and their colleagues see the efforts they’ve made to make Penn State a great place to work and learn,” said Jennifer Wilkes, vice president for Human Resources and chief human resources officer. “As each employee grows and develops in their careers at Penn State, this is just one way for us to say congratulations.”

As an extension of this program, Penn State employees who reach the 25-year milestone also receive recognition on Penn State News and in Penn State Today. A new series, launched in late 2025, publicly recognizes employees who reach 25 years of service through a monthly feature.

“These features are a great way to note the career milestones of each employee with the broader University community and celebrate how these Penn Staters have devoted a significant portion of their professional career at our University," Wilkes said.

Wilkes said team and unit leaders across the University have helped to make the Years of Service Program successful, and she encouraged managers to continue to take the time to help recognize and celebrate their employees' milestones.

Managers and unit leads receive automated emails from the third-party company who administers the Years of Service program alerting them to upcoming anniversaries, with links and resources for how to submit written and video comments. Coworkers and colleagues can be added to the recognition effort at that time, and managers are encouraged to ask their teams to provide congratulations and share memories to help make the celebration special, Wilkes said.

"I'd strongly encourage managers to take the time to help recognize the people on their teams for these important individual career milestones,” Wilkes said. “These efforts start with the manager, and our managers are a major reason for the program's success to date. It’s through your contributions that these anniversaries become memorable for each and every Penn State employee."

Managers can check the Talent Management dashboard in Workday to see upcoming Years of Service dates or how many years of service an employee has accrued. More information on how to navigate to data is available online.