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Date posted: 08th August 2022

08th August 2022

What can organizations do to retain their Gen Z & Millennial talent?

What can organizations do to retain their Gen Z & Millennial talent?

A recent Deloitte survey of 14,808 Gen Z’s and Millennials across 26 countries revealed that 40% of Gen Z’s and around 25% of millennials are likely to leave their current job within the next two years – whether they have a new job lined up or not.

But the same survey also found that 29% of Gen Z’s and 36% of millennials cite the cost-of-living crisis as their primary concern.

So, what is driving Gen Z’s and Millennials away from the workplace, despite their anxieties around the cost of living? And what can organizations do to reconnect with their younger workforce, and improve diminishing retention levels among this demographic.

Find out in this informative article by Michele Parmelee for Deloitte Insights.

From the article

Stress and burnout levels among Gen Zs and millennials are high and present a significant retention issue for employers. Forty-six percent of Gen Zs and 45% of millennials feel burned out due to the intensity and demands of their working environments. Similarly, 44% of Gen Zs and 43% of millennials say many people have recently left their organization due to high workload pressure. Employers may not yet be doing enough to address this challenge. The survey shows that, despite organizations focusing more on mental health in the workplace over the past two years, many Gen Zs and millennials don’t feel this is resulting in any meaningful impact on employees.

While compensation and burnout are driving many to leave their jobs, work/life balance, learning and development opportunities, and positive workplace cultures are key factors for Gen Zs and millennials when choosing a job. They are also focused on finding more purposeful work. In fact, nearly two in five say they have rejected jobs and/or assignments that don’t align with their values.

Here’s what businesses can consider:

Address wealth inequality: The most direct action many organizations can take to address wealth inequality is to focus on supporting their own people. Competitive salaries are important, as are benefits like paid time off, health care, and retirement savings. But there’s more that organizations can do. They can offer financial education and resources to help employees plan and manage their finances, provide learning and development opportunities so that they can advance professionally, offer flexible work models and well-being resources to help people manage their personal responsibilities, and focus on closing the pay gap, which will include ensuring women and minorities are represented at all levels and that they have equal opportunities to grow.

Support better mental health at work: Leaders should work towards meaningful and sustained change by providing increased access to mental health resources—from supportive leaders, to paid time off as needed, educational materials and resources about how to reduce stress and avoid burnout, to company-sponsored counselling or therapy. Critical to this effort is a consistent and vocal commitment to designing stigma-free working environments that value well-being, where workers feel able to speak up about their needs without fear of judgement. The trust needed for people to open up and seek help rests on the everyday behaviours and accessibility of their managers, which is why business leaders must act on building empathetic leadership skills and helping managers learn how to recognize and help with mental health challenges. Showing people how to set boundaries to protect their work/life balance, and supporting them in doing so, is also a critical way to support better well-being and prevent burnout.

Read the full article, here.

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