I’ve lived in homes without cable television since the ancient days of the second Bush administration. I turn to Snapchat stories before journalist columns when CNN sends my iPhone #BREAKING push notifications. I was studying high school green bean genetics the last time I purchased any recorded music (excluding my post-rock vinyl collection, ofc).
And this year, alongside 30% of my nebulously classified generation, I’ve started working a new gig.
No one is as brazenly transient as we millennials. We gladly invite the uncertainty of thrice-a-decade job transitions, we want our employers to shift their values to match our generational needs, hell, nearly half of us would give up sex and dating in exchange for a chance to move around a bit more!
Perhaps it’s a reflection of growing up with life at hyper-speed, exemplified in ever-changing social media envelopment. Perhaps we’re just the first to actually listen when our parents said we could be whatever we want when we grew up. The origins are unclear, but there’s no denying the hard facts that support the lifestyle.
Workers who stay with a company longer than two years are said to get paid 50% less than new blood, transient work is actually more stable in terms of career and skill development, some top minds of innovation are actively encouraging consistently changing career scenery, and it’ll probably net you a nice little pay boost to boot.
…but you know what? None of that really mattered when I decided to put my own big transition in motion.
After the exit of my last startup, and after the realization that the acquiring company and I were an imperfect match, I set my sights westward for the next steps of my life. Sure, moving to the SF Bay is straight out of the startup-er stereotype playbook, but salary, stock options, job security… anything you’d expect to drive a career move simply did not. I drove across the country in my 1996 Toyota Corolla (rip) for adventure, for freedom and for myself.
Articles I’ve linked earlier count “benefits” as the main driver for millennial relocation, but what exactly does that entail? While health insurance and 401k matches are sweet indeed, the benefits that drove me were the chance to take control of my career outside the constrictions of a formless employee development pipeline, to embrace my inner entrepreneur.
I sought to, as another great millennial en route to The Bay explains; “move out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth.”
The stigma of the job hopper is all but nonexistent among my peers and I don’t see it ever returning, even when responsibilities felt more acutely by older generations truly set in. What is valued to my generation, raised and formed in the age of instant gratification and globalization, is the experience of it all.
The memories we craft, the relationships we form, the stories we write. Those are the benefits truly worth seeking.
