What do millennials value most – training or salary?

Graduates place a higher value on career progression than competitive salary, a recent survey of over 4,000 millennials has revealed. The most popular benefit cited by respondents was training and development (22%), followed closely by work/life balance (19%). Cash bonuses (14%) came in at third place.

The PwC ‘Millennials at work, reshaping the workplace’ study surveyed the opinions of 4,364 people who graduated between 2008 and 2011, from 75 countries. The millennial generation comprises those born between 1980 and 2000. By 2020 they will form 50% of the global workforce.

With a quarter of respondents expecting to have six or more employers in their working life, and only 18% expecting to stay in their current role long term, the importance of training and development makes sense. If you think you’re going to move on quickly to another job you’ll want to get ahead – via training and qualifications acquired – as a matter of priority. Jon Andrews, a partner at PwC, commented, ‘Employers may need to accept that a rate of “millennial churn” is inevitable and build this into planning.’

In light of the survey’s findings, Andrews also stressed the need for a ‘transparent performance management system that clearly demonstrates how performance is rewarded’.

Other key findings include:

  • 72% of respondents say they have made compromises (such as salary, location, benefits, choice of industry) to get a job
  • Over 40% prefer electronic communication to face to face or telephone communication
  • 55% haven’t thought about how they will fund their retirement.

UK graduates less hopeful than most

UK millenials are much more pessimistic than their peers about their future wealth – globally, 67% of graduates believe they will be better off than their parents’ generation, but in the UK that figure is only 51%.

Posted by Jacky_TARGETjobs on 24 January 2012

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