The majority of millennials, at 60 percent, are open to jumping to a new job if the opportunity arises, according to a poll out Tuesday.
Millennials view their work lives in vastly different ways than past generations. Six in 10 millennials are open to new job opportunities with only half planning to stay in the same job a year from now, according to a report by Gallup. Gallup warns the willingness to jump around could pose a problem for the labor market.
“60% of millennials say they are open to a different job opportunity,” the report states. “This is 15 percentage points higher than the percentage of non-millennial workers. Millennials also report the greatest willingness to act on better opportunities, with 36% reporting they will look for a job with a different organization in the next 12 months if the job market improves, compared with 21% of non-millennials.”
Gallup defines millennials as anyone born between 1980 and 1996. It notes that millennials currently make up 38 percent of the national workforce with a possibility that number could rise to 75 percent by 2025. Their large percentage of the workforce poses a problem with how willing they are to jump around.
“Often, millennials are characterized as entitled job-hoppers, but the reality is that 55% of this group is not engaged at work,” the report notes. “Many millennials likely don’t want to switch jobs, but their companies are not giving them compelling reasons to stay.”
Gallup notes there is hope for companies that wish to retain their millennial workers. Millennials want a purpose more than just a paycheck and they want jobs that help with their personal development. They would also prefer having an ongoing conversation with their bosses about their performance as opposed to an annual review.
“When they see what appears to be a better opportunity, they have every incentive to take it,” the report notes. “While millennials can come across as wanting more and more, the reality is that they just want a job that feels worthwhile — and they will keep looking until they find it.”
The report stresses how profoundly different millennials are on a multitude of fronts. They don’t just view their work lives differently, they also look at religion, news gathering and their social lives differently, too. Nevertheless, the difference can be compensated for with minor changes in how companies treat them.
