As millennials become an increasingly predominant force in the workplace, benefits professionals must consider the impact this shift will have on the world of employee benefits. A number of questions arise from an attraction and retention perspective alone: Are the benefits that employers currently offer competitive from a millennial's perspective? How do millennials define benefits, anyway? Do they even care about benefits? Should they care? This article endeavors to address some of these questions, and provide a springboard for future thought and action in offering competitive benefits to millennials.

Millennials as a predominant force

The millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, typically represents those whose dates of birth range from the early 1980s to about 2000. This generation follows Generation X, which in turn followed the baby boomer generation. As baby boomers continue their journey into retirement, they are increasingly being replaced by millennials in the workplace.