When they first entered the workforce, millennials threw employers for a loop. Their priorities for a job and what they wanted from an employer were different than previous generations. So employers started to get creative and offer new employee benefits aimed at millennials. It wasn't long before perks like free snacks and kegs in the breakroom became more popular.
But now, millennials are getting older and settling down. Logically, that also means the benefits they want from a job will begin to change. If you want to continue to attract and, more importantly, retain the millennial generation, it's time to start rethinking your benefits package.
Here are four new employee benefits to consider in order to please aging millennials.
Money Woes
When it comes to finances, the millennial generation got the short end of the stick. Aside from many of them entering the workforce during one of the worst economic times in recent history, there's also huge gaps in their basic knowledge of personal finances. In fact, a 2015 report from Bank of America found that 33 percent of millennials learn about money management by making mistakes. To give you some comparison, 23 percent of millennials said they had learned from their parents' advice and only 7 percent said they'd learned from classes, books, or online resources.
Considering the amount of stress financial problems can cause employees, it seems like a big risk for employers to just hope their younger workers figure everything out—especially considering the toll financial stress takes on workplace productivity. The 2015 Employee Financial Wellness Survey from PwC found that 37 percent of employees spend three hours each week dealing with financial concerns while at work and 20 percent said that money issues distract them from doing their job.
Prevent this stress by giving millennial employees better financial education. Provide resources that answer their questions about saving for retirement or building their credit scores. That way, as they grow older and face larger decisions like buying a home or starting a family, they can make better choices. Becoming confident about their financial stability because of such benefits allows them to focus on being a great employee.
At your service
Work-life balance is important to employees at all ages, but it definitely gets more complicated once spouses, children, and other familial obligations are added to the mix. As they continue to grow older, millennials will care less about free snacks in the office and more about how they're going to get everything on their to-do list done.
Perhaps that's why concierge services have become so popular with companies that hire millennials. While research from the Society for Human Resource Management found that just 3 percent of companies offer concierge benefits, many that do, like Google, have a large number of millennials working for them.
These companies realize that even simple errands like running clothes to the dry cleaners or delivering the groceries mean a lot to millennials. Whatever option an organization chooses, it's a great way to show millennials you support their work-life balance.
The Millennial Conundrum
For millennials, student loans are a big burden. According to a 2015 study by Clark University, 63 percent of young adults have student debt. What's more, nearly 1 out of 10 has more than $50,000 in debt.
Because of that, benefits that help this generation manage their student loans are incredibly popular, despite the high cost to employers. In fact, the 2015 Millennial Benefit Preferences Study by Peanut Butter found millennials valued loan repayment benefits two times more than even basic benefits like health insurance.
As millennials continue to grow up and take on more financial responsibility, they'll appreciate help paying down their student loans even more. That way, they won't have to make the difficult choice between being able to pay for their education or beginning able to save for retirement.
Looking to the Future
Speaking of student debt, because so many millennials are suffering under the burden, they're looking for any way they can help their children avoid the same problem. The How America Saves for College 2016 report from Sallie Mae found that 65 percent of millennial parents are already saving for their kids' educations. In comparison, just 50 percent of Gen X parents are.
While loan repayment benefits help many millennials, they do nothing to prevent their children from facing the same amount of educational debt. That's where benefits like 529 plan enrollment and monitoring come into play. These types of employee perks help parents make better decisions in regard to their children's' futures.
As millennial parents continue to start or grow their families, new employee benefits that allow them to help their kids avoid the same educational debt situation become more appealing. By coupling student loan assistance with benefits that aid in 529 plan enrollment and management, companies can address millennials' current and future educational cost needs.
The benefits employers offer their workforce go a long way in engaging and satisfying employees. But remember that people have different priorities at different stages of their lives. As millennials continue to get older, you'll need to address their evolving needs with new employee benefits.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.