What are Millennials Looking for in a Career?


What are Millennials Looking for in a Career?

Unless you’ve been living and working in a cave, you’re familiar with millennials. They’re the largest generation in today’s workforce – and like the rest of the population, they’re getting older every day. Millennials are between 22 and 38 years old, and a growing percentage of them are moving out of their parents’ basements and into their own homes, where they’re starting their own families, buying their own real estate, and saving for their own and their children’s future.

What does this mean to you as an employer, circa 2018?

Millennials Defined

As you look to hire and retain millennials, you need to know what motivates them. You may be surprised to learn that while they differ in some ways from older generations of workers, they largely want some of the very same things, including growth opportunities, great managers, jobs that are well-suited for their talents and interests, and financial stability. That being said, millennials are more prone to jumping from job to job in order to achieve these goals – so you’d best be ready to help them.

  • In a recent survey, 21 percent of millennials said they had left their jobs in the past year to do something else. This number is more than three times higher than non-millennials. Sixty percent of millennials said they were open to different job opportunities.
  • In a separate study, 93 percent of millennials said the last time they changed jobs, they had left their employer – versus taking a new job with the same company.

The Good News

Their openness to new opportunities is the same quality that presents key opportunities for employers looking to attract talented millennials. Millennials are consumers of the workplace. They shop around for jobs that align with their needs and lifestyles.

Here’s what millennials want in a job:

  • To learn and grow. This is important to all employees, but even more so among the millennial population.
  • To feel deeply committed to their role. In line with this, they want to work for strong, role model managers who invest in their development.
  • To be financially stable. Having lived through the 2007-2008 recession, millennials typically have high levels of student debt, so they are especially sensitive to ensuring they invest wisely and plan ahead for the future.
  • To care for their families. In addition to raising children, many millennials are entering the age range where their parents are beginning to need their help. One-fourth of millennials surveyed noted that investing success would help them a great deal in taking time off to care for aging or ill family members – a significantly higher percentage than for baby boomers.
  • To give back. Millennials consistently reinforce their nickname as the “Giving Generation.” Benefits such as volunteer time off and charitable gift matching are high on their priority list. An impressive 82 percent of millennials say it’s important for their companies to promote the health and wellness of consumers and employees in their investment portfolios.

Let the talent management experts at Frontline Source Group help design your staffing strategy for millennial and other candidates. We can work with you on an ongoing basis to meet all your needs via temporary, contract-to-hire, and project and permanent placement staffing. To get in touch with our staffing service in Irving, TX, click here. Contact us to find the branch nearest to your, or read our related posts to learn more!


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Published on Sep 6, 2018