This year, one in four Millennials will quit their current jobs if they are given the opportunity.
That is according to the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016. In their fifth annual survey, Deloitte asked interviewees: “If you had a choice, how long would you stay with your current employer before leaving to join a new organisation or do something different?” The results were revealing.
After interviewing nearly 7,700 people born after 1982, across 29 countries, Deloitte’s report identifies a “loyalty challenge” for employers, with 44% of Millennials expecting to leave their current employer in the next two years.
By 2020, two in three hope to have left their job.
“This remarkable absence of loyalty represents a serious challenge to any business employing a large number of Millennials, especially those in markets – like the United States – where Millennials now represent the largest segment of the workforce,” reads the report.
The UK stands out in particular for its lack of loyal Millennial employees, according to the survey.
On average, Millennials in mature economies were less likely to be planning to leave their current employer in the next five years (61%), compared to those in emerging markets (69%). In the UK, however, Millennials are bucking the trend: a significant 71% of UK respondents said they expect to have moved on from their current employment in the next five years.
As the report identifies, Millennials make up a growing segment of the workforce and so employers will be keen to know why they are facing this “loyalty challenge” – how can it be fixed?
One of the key reasons identified for this was that Millennials weren’t being encouraged to aim for leadership roles.
71% of Millennials who are likely to quit their job in the next two years also said they were unhappy with how their leadership skills were being developed at their company. They feel underutilised and overlooked for potential leadership positions.
To keep Millennials around, the report finds, employers must focus on giving them opportunities for professional development. For example, Millennials intending to stay at their organisation for more than five years are twice as likely to have a mentor than not.
Meanwhile, Millennial employees indicated a disparity between what they think their business should focus on, versus what its driving purpose currently is. As leaders, Millennials said they would focus far less on “short term financial goals” than their companies do at present. Where Millennials reported feeling their organisations put “financial performance before everything else,” only 20% intended to stay for over five years.
Shared values and positive culture promote loyalty.
Businesses that have a purpose beyond profit, that “do the right thing,” may be more likely to retain their Millennial employees – a demographic that places great emphasis on “employee wellbeing” and “employee growth and development”.
Employers looking to grow a loyal Millennial workforce must help their employees to achieve a good work/life balance, offer opportunities for flexible working and give them work that has a sense of meaning. Fundamentally, Millennials believe that businesses should prioritise integrity, honesty and trust in order to be successful long-term.