It’s common practice among employers to try to minimize employee turnover as much as possible. Seeing as how the cost of recruiting and training a new employee can reach between six and nine months worth of salary, quick employee turnover is usually bad for businesses. Additionally, a high employee turnover rate can be seen as a reflection of poor morale, which can impact the whole company.
However, today’s workforce is seeing a factor that may be changing the landscape of employee turnover: millennials.
Data shows that millennials stay at a job for a far shorter amount of time than generation X or baby boomer employees. In fact, about 36.6% of millennial employees stay at one job for 13 months or less. However, additional research suggests that millennials aren’t job hopping more than generation X did in 2000.
Despite what the research may actually show, the belief that millennials are frequent job hoppers is impacting the way employers view and react to employee turnover.
For starters, companies are beginning to expect a higher employee turnover rate. Because employee turnover causes businesses to lose $11 billion annually, companies are ensuring they’re more prepared for the cost of turnover. Employees staying with one employer for their whole career is no longer the standard. Because of this, employers are ensuring they’re more prepared when their employees start to leave.
Additionally, employers are looking for more ways to retain millennial employees. Unlike previous generations, monetary compensation is not all millennials are interested in. While many companies focus on creating programs that will make employees stay, the employee’s manager greatly impacts engagement and retention. Millennials want to work for an employer who shares their values and gives them a sense of purpose. In order to reduce millennial turnover, employers are attempting to offer more desired perks and environmental conditions to keep employees engaged.
Regardless if millennials are or are not the job hoppers everyone sees them as, employee turnover rates are higher than ever. Businesses are changing their ways to fit this trend and better retain millennial employees.