Retention Motivators for Young Talents: Yes, We Are Talking About Gen Zers and Millennials
According to an Upwork survey, more than 50% of Gen Zers have taken freelance work in the previous 12 months. The youngest segment of our workforce is more inclined to find work that has more flexibility than ever before.
Sooner or later, organization leaders will have no choice but to accommodate their styles — by some estimates, millennials already make up 50% of the workforce. By 2030, Gen Z will account for ⅓ of workers.
Unlike the generations of workers before them, these workers aren’t afraid to leave a job if it doesn’t suit them. To retain their talent, here’s what to keep in mind:
Fluid Work Models
Almost half of Gen Zs and millennials — 46% and 47% respectively — live paycheck to paycheck and stress about covering their expenses.
As a result, fluid work models have become a priority. It’s widely understood that Gen Z and millennial workers prefer hybrid and remote work, but what’s often missing from this conversation is the financial component: 33% of Gen Zs and 39% of millennials say that remote work saves them money.
This influence also means that 43% of Gen Zs and 33% of millennials work second jobs, many of which are completed online (e-commerce, social media, and consulting).
To successfully train and retain young gig workers and freelancers, leaders have no choice but to make work as remote or hybrid as possible.
Retention Motivators
It’s no secret that young workers feel less loyalty to their employers than previous generations. Just 54% of total workers expect to have between two and five employers in their lifetime — a significant drop from the 75% of workers who felt this way in 2008. Now, more than a quarter of workers expect to have at least six employers throughout their careers.
The top three reasons why Gen Z and millennial employees leave jobs today are pay, mental health issues stemming from work, and burnout.
So, what makes them choose to stay? According to research from Deloitte:
- 32% of Gen Zs and 39% of millennials choose a workplace based on work-life balance
- 29% of both Gen Zs and millennials choose a workplace based on learning and development opportunities
- 24% of Gen Zs and 27% of millennials choose a workplace based on financial benefits
High churn is relatively normal, but there are key ways to engage and retain young talent. More than money, they want their time respected and learning prioritized.
Training Millennial and Gen Z Workers
Leaders can get ahead of retention issues by implementing these findings at the onset of training. The minute workers join an organization, they should be given:
- Mobile learning options that can be utilized anywhere
- Bite-sized modules they can complete on their own schedule
- Resources that cultivate a learning-focused environment
Nervous about training and retaining young workers? CoDo helps leaders design user-friendly onboarding programs for remote digital training. With ready-to-go templates that can be built out code-free, CoDo is helping leaders meet the demands of the modern workforce.
Click here to book a demo and get a head start on training.
