Young people are job-hoppers and this not a news. Unattached to organizations and institutions, people born between 1980 and 1996 are said to move freely from company to company, more so than any other generation.
At least 25% of all young people say they have changed jobs within the past year, which is more than three times the number of other age groups who report the same. Such high turnover of employees costs large amounts to companies annually.
Young people are also less willing to stay in their current jobs. For businesses, this suggests that half of their young workforce doesn’t see a future with them. This is
Since many young people don’t plan on staying in their jobs, it makes sense that they are hunting for new positions. Most of them are open to a different job opportunity which is not the same with older workers. Young people are also the most willing to act on better opportunities: 36% report that 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 who say the same.
Young People’s Engagement Lower Than That of Other Generations
Why are young people so likely to move around? There are many potential reasons, but one could be their low engagement in the workplace. Gallup has found that only 29% of millennials are engaged at work, meaning they are emotionally and behaviorally connected to their job and company. Another 16% of millennials are actively disengaged, meaning they are more or less out to do damage to their company. The majority of millennials (55%) are not engaged, leading all other generations in this category of worker engagement.
Not engaging young workers is a big miss for organizations. The millennial workforce is predominantly “checked out” — not putting energy or passion into their jobs. They are indifferent about work and show up just to put in their hours.
It’s possible that many young people actually don’t want to switch jobs, but their companies aren’t giving them compelling reasons to stay. When they see what appears to be a better opportunity, they have every incentive to take it. While young people 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.
Attraction and Retention Strategies Matter Equally
Young people are consumers of the workplace, and they are willing to investigate and pursue positions with other companies. For leaders, the current challenge is twofold: They must understand how to attract the millennial workers who are looking to leave their current organizations, but they must also understand how to retain their existing yuong employees.
