At 75.4 million strong, millennials have surpassed baby boomers as the largest living age demographic. As the largest age demographic to hit the job market in more than three decades, how do employers prepare for what many employment experts refer to as the “Job Hopping” generation?
The better question to ask is why about 20 million millennials have left a job over the past two years. When you dig deeper, you learn that more than 60% of millennials would leave a job if it fell short of career fulfillment.
Maybe the problem is not with the millennial generation, but with employers that have not adapted to the unique employment expectations, millennials carry into their careers.
The fact remains that savvy corporate recruiters and visionary small business owners go out of their way to attract talent from the millennial generation. They have moved beyond the bad rap millennials receive to tap into an almost infinite wealth of cutting-edge talent.
Why Millennials Get a Bad Rap
Millennials comprise the generation born between 1985 and 2000. Often described as distracted, yet highly educated workers, millennials have a difficult time shaking the bad rap they receive from a wide variety of sources. We want to explain why millennials act the way they do.
Life Experiences and Millennials
Like any other generation, the events millennials have seen and experienced molded their worldviews, and what a worldview it has become. Millennials were at the most vulnerable stages of their lives when the stark reality of constant war and the mistrust of authority figures transformed their worlds into ones that demanded straightforward explanations for complex topics.
Yes, millennials have gotten a bad rap. However, if you run a small business or a large company department, you need to look past millennial stereotypes and start thinking about the positive things millennials bring to the professional table.
Why You Should Want to Hire Millennials
Two more traits associated with millennials are apathy and social media obsessive. According to a research study released by the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, only one of the two traits is true.
- Natural Digital Marketers
Turn the complaint that millennials spend too much time on Facebook into the most compelling reason to hire the social media generation. After all, going on Facebook often helps spread the word about your company in cyberspace.
Millennials use social media more to communicate than any other generation. They also have a strong presence on YouTube and we know how the Google asset has shaken up search engine rankings. You want people to talk about your company online and millennials offer the best conduit for that to happen. - Educated, with Tech Skills
As perhaps the best-educated generation ever, millennials bring much more to your company than simply promoting your products and services online. The moment millennials enter the workforce, they will spend the rest of their careers improving a wide variety of skills that make them indispensable corporate team members.
Millennials have a detailed knowledge of technology subjects, ranging from web development to implementing cybersecurity strategies. In an era where rapidly changing technology constantly alters the business landscape, millennials are the one generation that can keep up with all the tech changes.
5 Ways to More Effectively Attract Millennial Employees with Technology – Millennials may be an incredibly talented and intelligent bunch, but they come with a high price tag, especially if your business cannot retain them long enough to tap into their full potential.
- Motivated Team Players
The images of millennials brooding in the corner of a dark alley are simply exaggerations. Another millennial myth shatters when you encounter a business professional who has made the effort to recruit millennials. With an open-minded perspective focused on team-driven projects, you will not find another generation that values collaboration as much as millennials cherish working on team projects. Some of the projects involve digital collaboration, but it remains collaboration nonetheless. - Culturally Involved
Forget the hordes of young people protesting against social injustice. Millennials should be known more for the generation’s active involvement in cultural and community projects. As the most actively involved generation in cultural and social issues since the Boomer generation, millennials search for ways to improve society. Companies that have to drag employees kicking and screaming to participate in public service projects should openly embrace the millennial generation. - Fresh Perspectives
If you want to grow a company, you need to recruit professionals who introduce new ways of thinking about difficult problems. Welcoming the newest generation of employees ensures your company receives fresh perspectives to foster innovation.
Millennials have not invented outside the box thinking; they have reinvented it. With millennials soon to represent the largest consumer demographic, it makes sense to hire the same age demographic to understand how millennial consumers think.
According to several research studies, millennials are expected to encompass 46 percent of the American workforce by 2020. This is great news for forward thinking business professionals who plan to tap into the generation of workers that have made Internet marketing a natural part of their lives.
Share this on Twitter!
Tweet: 5 reasons to hire #Millennials for your company: https://ctt.ec/0F4zd+ via @RamonRay
Subscribe to the Small Business Solutions Blog and receive updates when we publish a new article. [wysija_form id=”1″]
