With record-low unemployment rates and a Millenial employee mindset of "not here for long," small businesses are facing ever-increasing problems finding, hiring, and retaining good workers. Not only are fewer good workers available for small businesses to hire (since larger numbers of them prefer working for larger companies with higher salaries, better benefits, and more career path opportunities), but research is showing that Millenials, unlike previous generations, often see first jobs as "steppingstones" to other jobs in other companies, rather than as first steps in their careers with the same organization.
According to a new survey, "Millenial Outlook Survey," released by RecruitFi (www.recruitfi.com), 83 percent of Millenials acknowledged that job-hopping on their resume may be seen as a negative by prospective employers. However, 86 percent of them said that this potential problem would not prevent them from pursuing their professional and/or personal passions by seeking new jobs.
According to the survey, a number of employers experience negative implications of this constant job-hopping by employees. In fact, 34 percent of employers said one impact of job-hopping by Millenials has been reduced morale among current employees, and 22 percent said that the job-hopping has had repercussions for their customers and clients.
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Over half (53 percent) of Millenial respondents reported having held three or more jobs. While 33 percent of them plan to remain in their current jobs for three to five years, another 20 percent plan to leave after one to two years. Currently, according to the report, 74 percent of Millenial employees are actively looking for new jobs, and 69 percent said that searching for new opportunities is part of their regular routines.
In terms of reasons for leaving their current employers, 37 percent reported that they would be seeking completely different career paths, 25 percent would leave to take jobs with competitors, 22 percent would want to relocate to different cities, 11 percent would leave to relocate with "significant others," and five percent would leave to take time off for personal travel.
"The Millenial generation continues to be at the forefront of every recruiting and hiring discussion," said Brin McCagg, CEO and co-founder of RecruitFi. (MARY: JUST A NOTE TO CONFIRM THAT HIS NAME IS INDEED "BRIN," NOT "BRIAN.") "By taking a deep dive into the key drivers behind Millenials' career decisions, the survey findings illustrate that now, more than ever, organizations must evolve to adopt more strategic approaches to HR and talent management."
When asked what would encourage them to remain with their current employers, Millenial respondents identified things such as improved employer-employee communication around job expectations and the future, healthcare and financial planning options, flexibility and work/life balance, improved compensation and bonuses, and mentorship programs. Certainly, large companies are in a position to offer these. However, for smaller employers, many of these expectations are beyond their reach.
RecruitFi's job hopping data mirrors research from other firms. A recent report, "2015 Jobvite Job Seeker Nation Study," published by Jobvite (www.jobvite.com) found that, while the average employment tenure across all organizations was 3.75 years in 1990, that has dropped to 2.25 years in 2015. And, in certain industries and professions, the numbers are even lower: 1.99 years in engineering, 1.97 years in sales, 1.97 years in customer service, 1.78 years in IT, and 1.54 years in marketing.
The Jobvite report also noted that half of employed job seekers (of all ages) view their current jobs as merely "entry level" or "stepping stones" to future jobs or careers. This number jumps to 71 percent for employees ages 18 to 29.
The report also noted that large numbers of those who are currently employed but in the process of seeking new jobs want to leave to seek higher compensation (32 percent) or better growth opportunities (16 percent). In addition, increased compensation has the biggest impact on job seekers' decisions to take new jobs (61 percent), with location (42 percent) and work/life balance (38 percent) being the next two most significant factors.
In response to today's chronic and rapid turnover, employers have been forced to hire more people and do so more quickly. The Jobvite report noted that, while the national average time to hire (ATTH) for all industries in 2011 was 58 days, it is now just 33 days today.
Increasing the challenges for small businesses seeking new employees, according to the Jobvite report, is that 31 percent of job seekers admitted to not being completely honest and having inflated their skills, and 27 percent admitted to having fabricated job references. Unlike larger employers with full-time human resources departments that can conduct more in-depth research to uncover these problems, few small businesses have these resources and often have to rely on the "word" of the people they interview.
"The study further confirms that the economic upswing is having concrete results for job seekers," said Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite. "Now they have more options, everywhere they look. Companies must cast a wider net to capture this talent." Companies must showcase their brand everywhere job seekers are, according to Finnigan. Again, not an easy task for small businesses.
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