Millennials as the Most Likely Generation to Switch Jobs

An accomplished executive, Randall Blum is the president of a strategic consulting firm headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Randall “Randy” Blum is involved in millennial career development and efficiency projects.

Millennials, the population of people born between 1980 and 1996, have a reputation for job-hopping which is estimated to cost the United States economy around 30.5 billion dollars annually. A recent report from Gallup revealed that about 21 percent of millennials confirmed that they have changed their respective jobs within the past year which is roughly three times higher than the previous record of prior generations.

Today, millennials are perceived to be a set of population who are less willing to stay in their current jobs since half of the population plans to change the places where they work in the near future. This could translate to hunting for new job positions or the fact that the majority may not see a future with their respective places of work.

There are many potential reasons for millennials wanting to change their place of work, with a lack of engagement being one of the most definite. For instance, Gallup found that only about 29 percent of employed millennials are engaged at work emotionally and behaviorally. On the same report, 16 percent were actively disengaged from their jobs which is a critical risk factor for their company as these individuals have the potential to cause damage. 55 percent were just not engaged; not putting passion or energy into their jobs and are somewhat indifferent about work.

Addressing this issue can turn out to be a two-fold endeavor for business leaders. Essentially, they must develop ways to attract millennial workers who are planning on leaving their organizations. Also, they must develop plans that can help retain existing millennial employees.