Millennials have embraced the “do what you love” ethos, caring more about a sense of purpose than a paycheck.
“Given their financial constraints, millennials’ job-switching tendencies do make some sense; they might continually chase jobs that lead them to bigger paychecks. But when considering which jobs to apply for, millennials actually place other attributes ahead of income,” Amy Adkins and Brandon Rigoni wrote in a summary of a new Gallup poll.
Millennials will put their interest in the type of work, and longterm career prospects, ahead of their current paycheck.
“For this generation, a job is about more than a paycheck — it’s about a purpose. Despite the financial constraints many millennials are experiencing, they still place jobs that allow them to grow, develop and do what they do best over jobs that supplement their income,” Adkins and Rigoni wrote.
Those traits shouldn’t be exaggerated, though. Reality has conditioned millennials. After completing internships during college and getting paid in “experience,” millennials have accepted that underemployment is a fact of life. Rather than reaching for a large paycheck, they’ll take a job that sets them up for a better future, or a low paycheck doing work they enjoy rather than something with higher pay and more tedium.
“The key to keeping millennials on the job might be finding what engages them most at work,” the Palm Beach Post noted.
Companies can use that to their advantage. Engage millennials and give them purpose, and you can pay them less. Millennials who enjoy their work are less likely to leave for another job, even if the new opportunity offers a bigger paycheck.
