Making a debut in the real world as a 2011 college graduate was a far less glamorous affair than I and my fellow baccalaureates had hoped for. After blowing through college funds and accruing loans with an equivalent value to the homes we grew up in, it turned out that the only parties in need of our six-figure degrees were local restaurants offering part time shifts and the neighborhood families that we used to babysit for during high school.
The parents of a good friend of mine took out a second mortgage on their house to fund his Stanford degree in political science, and to their horror, he moved right back home 4 years later to work in a nearby bagel shop.
Every job posting was answered with thousands of applications, and as any business student can tell you, it’s all about supply and demand. In the case that someone was lucky enough to land a full-time office job, the trade-off for the privilege of “real” work experience usually meant taking a pay-cut from what could have been earned tending bar or waiting tables.
Office jobs were so coveted in fact, that the thought of discussing employee benefits during the interview process wasn’t even on the radar.
Asking about healthcare and 401k matching felt taboo—even as a member of the “entitled generation” I felt that asking for anything over a full time salary was akin to looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Thus as a new hire, I did not even qualify to participate in the company’s 401k plan, which had no matching program, and forked over 20 percent of my monthly income to pay for health insurance.
Skipping ahead to 2015, a recent article by the Harvard Business Review cites various studies, which tell us that 36 percent of global employers reported talent shortages and 73 percent of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills.
The talent demand and job supply have indeed flip flopped in the past four years—and my peers are no longer desperate to spend Monday through Friday working for sub-standard compensation with no benefits to speak of when there are ample opportunities elsewhere.
No matter their take on the “selfish generation,” employers that have gotten used to the recession-era way of employee benefits are in real trouble. According to a study by Aon Hewitt, not only will millennials make up half of the workforce this year, but nearly one half of them plan to change jobs in the next year.
Compensation and benefits packages will be the strongest driver in determining their next career move and employers will need to step their game up if they are committed to attracting and retaining quality talent.
From a company perspective, this is much easier said than done, especially with the recent rise in the cost of key benefits. The incremental funds needed to enhance total compensation are not quick to come by.
Given their circumstances, many organizations are taking a closer look at their existing benefits programs, aiming to identify inefficiencies and redirect funds to programs that matter most to employees and prospective employees.
Employee compensation and benefits are a meaningful expression of how an organization values their people and should be a match to your personal and professional principles as you continue along your career path.
Whether you count yourself on the employee or employer side of the fence, getting clear on what you value in your workplace is an important part of creating what’s next for your career or your organization.
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