Comments on: When a Millennial Quits After 2 Years, Did You Drive Her Out?

By: Commentariat

Commentariat — Sat, 04 Nov 2017 00:10:40 +0000

This. I’m a Gen-Xr and watched my parents get screwed over by their employers despite hard work and found myself in the same cycle.

Corporations will let workers go without compunction for the sake of quarterly profits or whims of management. If I’m a highly skilled, highly productive worker, why would I tolerate being treated badly or being paid poorly?

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 13:59:26 +0000

I agree with both points – that millennials aren’t the only generation to job-hop and that we still need to adjust our recruitment to target this. There are always going to be generational differences. It’s more about how you handle them and where your target candidates lie. For instance, sourcing the new global generation that uses tech to work remotely is going to need a different strategy than hiring in-office workers (source: http://recruit.ee/bl-sourcing-candidates-eb-bh). Generational differences are inevitable and vary. However, they also change for generations that grow up! Age differences, gender differences, all of these things need to be accounted for and controlled for, but that’s a whole ‘nother story, haha. Thanks for sharing!

By: the gold digger

the gold digger — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 17:18:04 +0000

In reply to LCW. No kidding. Why would anyone stay at just one company anymore? No pensions, no increase in vacation with longevity, minimal raises - you might as well jump for money any chance you can.

By: Arrow

Arrow — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:37:10 +0000

Companies who focus on hiring only new grads have departments full of new grads. Without long term employees as leaders and anchors, there is only basic learning going on. These are jobs that grads take to get some work experience and springboard into their long term jobs. In my area, I can name 5 of these companies- they want cheap employees and won’t invest in training or development.

By: Tim C.

Tim C. — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 13:56:02 +0000

Employer loyalty is seldom rewarded anymore. I was once working for a company that changed its benefits structure such that the next advancement was 11 years from hire. The increase was not worth sticking around so many employees left. I am not sure if Suzanne’s message here is “Hey employers, don’t treat employees like this and maybe they will stay.” or if it’s “Shame on you shallow and fickle employees for bailing on the next best thing to come along. You need to improve your loyalties.” I am leaning towards the first assumption. Commenters are right to be jaded as we have seen far too often where an employer will put someone out with no notice just to improve the bottom line.

By: Goober

Goober — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 23:28:49 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth West. I've been on the same job for 25 years, and do not expect to retire from anywhere else. There's never such a thing as a universal truth when it comes to employment.

By: Chris Hogg

Chris Hogg — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 23:28:19 +0000

A book that addresses this issue, that is helpful in framing the discussion and goes well beyond one’s generation, is Down and Out in the New Economy: How People Find (or Don’t Find) Work Today (2017) by Ilana Gershon.

While it is arguable whether or not the premise of the book applies to all of the US economy and job market, it certainly seems to apply to a large portion.

And the premise? Workers used to offer their talents much as a landowner, renting out those talents on a monthly, yearly, and decades-long basis to employers, who rented those talents on a long-term basis; but now, workers are marketing themselves as, and are seen as, independent businesses who provide specific solutions to specific problems – when the problem is solved, there is no longer a need for the employee-as-a-business, and the employee either leaves or is let go.

Perhaps it’s like buying food. One can continue to visit the farm to obtain all manner of food products (the “old” method) or one can visit the grocery store to buy a pound of hamburger (the “new” method).

I would strongly urge anyone, employer or employee, who cares about this topic and who is concerned with the apparent seismic shifts occurring in the labor market to read Down and Out.

By: Maria Rose

Maria Rose — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 22:02:58 +0000

It is not a millennial thing about job switching anymore especially when businesses continue to view labor costs as the primary method to make profit.
Perhaps small businesses with a low staff number may offer a more personal interaction that may effect longer retention but the idea of having the same job for your work life is no longer a valid viewpoint unless there’s opportunity to grow skills and position.

By: Elizabeth West

Elizabeth West — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 21:00:55 +0000

In reply to Dorothy.

You beat me to it. Where I live, people grow up here and stay for most of their lives. But most of the jobs are entry level and I keep seeing the same ones posted over and over again. Why? Well, they don’t pay very much, for one thing. Some offer room to move up, but the departments and the slots within them are limited. There are a couple of companies where people stay for years and years–like my most recent employer, a technology company. The other is healthcare. But the rest don’t offer much. So I guess the folks who’ve grown past the junior jobs are leaving.

That’s what I’m trying to do. Ironically, however, I can’t find a job that pays enough for me to save up to do it. As Admiral Ackbar said in Return of the Jedi, it’s a trap! 😛

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 18:49:27 +0000

In reply to Dorothy. My thoughts as well. As a boomer I once counted on long term employment and was a loyal employee of one company for decades. But then times changed, layoffs became common, and suddenly half my coworkers were contractors because they could be canned on a moment's notice. Companies can't expect loyalty if they won't extend loyalty. The day of long tenures is over.