Millennials are reshaping the nation’s workforce and major companies are trying to figure out what keeps this generation of employees interested in their work.
One way of making millennials happy is simple, but difficult to pull off. According to a poll of 1,000 millennial workers by JustWorks, D.C. millennials want student loan repayment options in their company plan. With the national student loan debt climbing to more than $1.5 trillion in May, millennials are looking to gain more control over their post-graduate finances.
JustWorks is a New York-based company that makes software for companies' HR, payroll and other operational tasks.
In the report, 47 percent of D.C. millennial employees at small businesses and 51 percent of millennials at large businesses polled in favor of their companies looking into student loan payment options.
Since student loan debt is killing graduate happiness, millennials are searching for other ways to feel fulfilled through wellness activities and benefits that encourage work-life balance.
“One of the concepts I’ve seen from major corporations is the concept of wellness. Wellness means very different things depending on who you’re talking to. Wellness can be mental, but someone could also be talking about financial wellness,” said JustWorks VP of operations David Feinberg about millennials requests. “I think that everybody asks for different things.”
The JustWorks report also noted that a positive workplace culture is the most important in keeping millennials at a company, with growth and development opportunities following close behind. Seventy percent of millennial employees at large businesses and 59 percent at small businesses said that workplace culture was a huge factor in departing with a company. According to a LinkedIn survey, millennials job-hop more than any other generation.
One thing that millennials are not getting the hang of is healthcare fees and copays. Only 35 percent of millennial employees polled at small businesses were confident in understanding their healthcare plans, while 44 percent of D.C. millennials at large businesses understood their plans.
