$hiredate = "2014-05-05";
$nowdate = "2016-04-15";


##</code><code>##

@words = split (/-/, $hiredate);
    $hire_yr = "@words[0]";
    $hire_mo = "@words[1]";
    $hire_day = "@words[2]";
    
@words_now = split (/-/, $ymd);    
    $now_yr = "@words_now[0]";
    $now_mo = "@words_now[1]";
    $now_day = "@words_now[2]";

  
    
    $since_yr = $now_yr - $hire_yr;
    $since_mo = $now_mo - $hire_mo;
    $since_day = $now_day - $hire_day;
    
    
     
     unless ($since_mo == abs($since_mo)) {
     $since_yr = $since_yr -1;
     }