{"id":4886,"date":"2015-09-23T06:58:14","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T10:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4886"},"modified":"2015-09-23T06:58:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-23T10:58:14","slug":"millennials-views-on-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4886","title":{"rendered":"Millennials Views On Working"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"next-ave\"<\/a>I sometimes worry as my\u00a0Millennial nieces and nephews scramble to get traction in the working world and find jobs that are meaningful, pay the bills and still allow them to enjoy their lives. (And I celebrate their successes each step of the way as they do.)<\/header>\n
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So I was intrigued by the new\u00a0Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults: Work, Education and Identity<\/em> <\/a>which surveyed a thousand 21- to 29-year-olds.<\/p>\n

One of the findings that made me wince was that only 35 percent of those employed believe the most important job feature to them \u2014\u201clook forward to going each day\u201d \u2014 strongly applies to their current position. As the author ofLove Your Job: The New Rules of Career Happiness<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0 I know there are ways they can get more out of work and out of life.<\/p>\n

Read this article on PBS’s Next Avenue.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Working for Love and Money<\/h3>\n

Fortunately, they seem to be onto that notion. \u201cAlthough their ideal job would pay a lot of money, when push comes to shove, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed would choose a job they love, even if it comes at a lower pay grade,\u201d according to the report by poll director Jeffrey Jensen Arnett<\/a>, the Clark psychology professor who coined the term \u201cemerging adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0<\/span>How to Love Your Job Even If You Don\u2019t Like It<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed would choose a job they love, even if it comes at a lower pay grade.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u2014 Clark University poll report<\/strong><\/h1>\n

To dig deeper into what the poll says about Millennials and work, I asked Arnett \u2014 a Next Avenue contributor and co-author of Getting to 30: A Parent\u2019s Guide to the 20-Something Years<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 to share some insights and offer recommendations to parents (and aunts and uncles) of young workers. I also spoke to Dan Schawbel, another Millennial guru, whose WorkplaceTrends.com<\/a>\u00a0worked with the Workforce Institute at Kronos to release\u00a0The Corporate Culture and Boomerang Employee Study<\/em>.<\/a> Schawbel\u2019s also the author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules to Career Success<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

5 Pointers for Parents<\/h3>\n

Here are their five pointers (plus one that Arnett and I disagree about):<\/p>\n

1. The money you put into your kids\u2019 college education is <\/em>worth it.<\/strong> \u201cYes, it is a financial burden to provide education for your kids, but it is more important than ever,\u201d Arnett says. The Clark poll found that only 17 percent of respondents with less than a high school education are employed full-time, compared to 36 percent for those with higher education.<\/p>\n

Of those with an associate\u2019s degree or higher, 60 percent said they were satisfied with the employment opportunities their college degree has afforded them.<\/p>\n

A whopping 80 percent said it is more important than ever to get education or training beyond high school to find a good job.<\/p>\n

Arnett says they\u2019re right (granted, he is<\/em> a college professor): \u201cYou have to have an education more than anything else to get a job. It doesn\u2019t have to be a four-year degree, but it has to be something<\/em>. We are in the midst of a shift from manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy, meaning that you have to know stuff that other people don\u2019t know and that other people will pay you for because you know it and they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0<\/span>How to Lend Money to Family or Friends (If You Must)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

One finding of interest to parents whose kids aren\u2019t yet college age: More than 1 in 5 emerging adults surveyed said they think they would have benefited more from their college experience if they\u2019d waited to go<\/a> a year or two after high school.<\/p>\n

2. Financial support for your kids after college is the new reality. <\/strong>Nearly half (49 percent) of those surveyed receive some type of assistance from their parents. One reason: The unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds<\/a> is now 10.1 percent, double the overall 5.3 percent unemployment rate; Millennials now make up 40 percent of the nation\u2019s unemployed.<\/p>\n

Once college ends, \u201cparents feel that they should be done with providing for them, but they\u2019re not,\u201d Arnett says.<\/p>\n

Many of the recent grads who are working have either a part-time job (70 percent surveyed work fewer than 40 hours a week) or a full-time position that doesn\u2019t pay enough to live on.<\/p>\n

Although these emerging adults often find themselves asking for money, they don\u2019t like it anymore than their parents do. \u201cThey\u2019re really striving hard to be self-sufficient,\u201d Arnett says. \u201cThey really want to be able to make their own decisions and relying on your parents for money means you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. These days, temporary jobs are cool \u2014 not a badge of shame.<\/strong> Don\u2019t fret if you child is running through a series of contract jobs<\/a> in his or her early- to mid-20s, says Arnett. The poll found that 1 in 9 emerging adults are paid per job or on a freelance basis; 1 in 6 are self-employed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s part of finding their way into the labor market to finding that first career job, and that\u2019s OK,\u201d advises Arnett.<\/p>\n

4. Job jumping and career changing is part of growing up<\/strong>. A full 60 percent surveyed expect to change career paths at least once or twice and 65 percent said they don\u2019t see themselves in the same field they\u2019re currently in 10 years down the line.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t roll your eyes. These views may not be all that different from what their boomer parents have done in their careers. Data <\/a>released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this year found that boomers born between 1957 and 1964 held almost a dozen jobs between age 18 and 48.<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019ve changed employers at least a handful of times for higher pay, more benefits and a chance to move up the ladder. In fact, I switched jobs twice between 24 and 29 and five times before 40.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillennials are switching jobs because they\u2019re searching for the job \u2014and organization \u2014 of best fit, \u201c says Schawbel.<\/p>\n

In the Clark poll, most respondents said they would \u201cnever be willing to stay in a boring job in the long run, no matter how well it paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, according to Schawbel\u2019s study with the Workforce Institute, \u201cthis younger generation is more likely to boomerang back to a former employer when they\u2019ve experienced other company cultures and realized what they\u2019ve missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Complaining about work issues comes with the territory. <\/strong>\u201cWhen have young people not <\/em>felt like they weren\u2019t paid enough?\u201d asks Arnett.<\/p>\n

Nearly 4 in 5 Millennials he surveyed said they often feel they don\u2019t make enough money. And more than 3 in 5 are unhappy with some aspect of their current job \u2014 either their work\/life balance, salary or both.<\/p>\n

Overall, 70 percent said they haven\u2019t made as much progress in their careers as they had hoped. \u201cThat\u2019s always been inevitable,\u201d says Arnett. \u201cYou\u2019re starting at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where Arnett and I Part Ways<\/h3>\n

But I have to disagree with Arnett about one of his views based on the poll finding that 66 percent of respondents felt uncertain about navigating personal finances. <\/a>(My niece, Caitlin Bonney, expressed this sentiment perfectly in a Next Avenue blog she wrote <\/a>after graduating from the University of Richmond: \u201cAs a finance major, I was initially embarrassed to admit [to my aunt] how much I didn\u2019t know about credit cards, renter\u2019s insurance and bank accounts.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Arnett says: \u201cYou don\u2019t have to panic because at 22 they don\u2019t have a 401(k). That\u2019s the last thing on their minds, honestly. They have more immediate concerns and more immediate needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe so, but I firmly believe it\u2019s the responsibility of parents \u2014 and aunts, uncles and grandparents \u2014 to push young adults to ramp up their financial smarts and save for their futures. OK, so they can wait to age 23 to start putting money into a 401(k) or a Roth IRA.<\/p>\n