Infographics are interesting. While they provide a great overview of information, there is a danger in losing context to the statistics. Gaining insight, in whatever form, is always important, and this infographic published by Badgeville delivers a good comparison on Millennials in the workplace and the marketplace.
Millennials: Rising to the Challenges
As I read through the information, highlighted below is caught my attention.
- The economic challenge: 63% have a Bachelor’s degree yet 48% of employed college graduates work in jobs that don’t require a college degree.
- The social challenge: 70% have “friended” their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook, and 56% won’t accept jobs from companies that ban social media (Are there still companies that ban social media?).
- The work flexibility challenge: 69% believe office attendance is unnecessary on a regular basis and 89% prefer to choose when and where they work rather than being placed in a 9 to 5 position.
- The clarity challenge: 95% are motivated to work harder when thy know where their work is going and 80% prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews. And 80% said they want regular feedback from their manager.
- The values challenge: 75% see themselves as authentic and are not willing to compromise their family and personal values and 61% are worried about the state of the world and feel personally responsible to make a difference.
Resolving these challenges are essential for many reasons. The primary reason is this is our future! We need to work together to leverage the best of each generation and remove barriers from building a better future together. More practically, there is a business cost to not getting this right: The average cost to replace each Millennial employee is $24,000, and 70% of Millennials say they always come back to brands they love.
Organizations need to understand Millennials from the inside out and outside in. Getting the culture right will help in getting the brand right.
Are you ready to work together across the generations for a better generation ahead?
I am.
A lot of interesting numbers – thanks for sharing, Jon. The one number that caught my attention? “Average millennial is $45000 in debt”. Wow. Maybe I live under a rock, but that’s huge. A huge stranglehold on their near-term future.
It is a scary number, Kumud. The college debt is amazingly high today. I know I carried what I thought was hefty college debt for awhile, but it was never this high (and, that included my graduate degree!). This may be one reason why Millennials are paying more attention to financial planning and developing some savvy budgeting skills. Thanks for your comment! Jon
I’m curious about those that have degrees, but are having trouble finding work in their field. Do you have any insights as to whether that’s getting better or worse in the past few years. As the economy improves, I would hope this would be getting better.
Good question, Karin. From what I have read, the ability for Millennials with college degrees seems to have improved somewhat. There is still the issue of the under-employed, which may be the reason for the higher statistics on job changes.
Given the cost of education, there have been several articles on how other options are being used to a higher degree, like certificate programs. These programs have a lower cost and potentially higher value given the concentration on a specific skill set.
Thanks! Jon
Extended family members were talking about the impacts of social media in a variety of career categories. There actually are careers and jobs where it doesn’t make sense to be active in social media (prosecutors, police officers, etc). In many cases, the reasons why it’s not a good idea for them has to do with their safety and the safety of their family. The discussion with them over the holidays made me think about the social media connection just a bit differently.
Really great infographic. Lots of rich information here, Jon. Thanks for sharing.
Great points, Joy. Social collaboration in some job categories may not make as much sense but the personal side of interacting with brands still may apply. Seeing this unfold will be interesting over the years…. Thanks! Jon
Fascinating graphics, Jon on such an inspirational generation.
I do think organizations need to embrace the Millennials need for flexibility as work and play flow together. They really are a motivated group who are willing to work hard for meaningful job situations. They care. They are outstanding team players. They are open to feedback frequently. Millennials are concerned about the world and the people they connect with.
Now is the time to support their growth and dreams.
I agree, Terri. I believe there are reasonable ways to deliver flexibility and still get the results organizations need. Some companies have been already successful in proving this and others may need to look into new practices more and begin trying them.
Thanks for your insights. Appreciate it! Jon