Baby boomers and Generation Y may have less of a generation gap than one might assume when it comes to employee benefits, according to a study.
The study, What Millennial Workers Want: How to Attract and Retain Gen Y Employees, finds that when asked to rank the importance of 11 factors relating to job opportunities, placed benefits, salary, as well as opportunities for professional growth and advancement at the top of the list.
“The research depicts a pragmatic, future-oriented generation that holds many of the same values as its predecessors,” says Reesa Staten, senior vice-president and director of workplace research for Robert Half International, which co-produced the study with Yahoo! HotJobs.
Among some of the benefits that Gen Y deemed important, include healthcare coverage, paid vacation, dental care coverage, pension plans, bonuses and flexible working hours/telecommuting.
The study recommends that employers should put themselves in their employees’ shoes when thinking about benefits. If possible, new employees’ benefits should take effect as soon as possible and they shouldn’t have to wait three months after they begin working to get their healthcare coverage.
The study also finds that nearly three-quarters(73%)of Gen Y professionals are concerned about being able to balance a career with personal obligations. “You’ll encourage longer tenures and greater loyalty among employees if you offer perks and programs that help them achieve work-life balance,” says the report. “This may require you to rethink traditional career paths or timetables for advancement, or offer options such as job-sharing, telecommuting, compressed workweeks or alternative scheduling, when appropriate.”
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The survey portion of the study was conducted in the second quarter of 2007 by an independent research firm. It includes a total of 1,007 web interviews of Americans aged 21 to 28 years old who are employed full time or part time and have college/university degrees or are currently attending college/university.
Among those surveyed, 505 were male and 502 were female. The majority of respondents(79%)were college graduates employed full time. The rest were employed part time and/or still attending college/university.
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