Just read this article and thought it interesting as well as some of the statistics it quotes. Here are some snippets but read it for more detail. It’s not very long.
“Millennials don’t want to move “up” on a career ladder. … less concerned with traditional metrics of success, like savings and home ownership, and more concerned with creating lives defined by meaning, community, and shared value. So why are so many parents, colleges, and corporate HR programs still preparing millennials for a future they don’t want?”
“The US Department of Labor has noted that 65% of today’s grade school kids will end up in jobs that haven’t been invented yet. More than one-third of Americans are freelancers (some 53 million Americans), and by 2020, that number could be as high as 60 million. …between 2006 and 20016, the average job tenure for all employees twenty-five and over was only five years.”
“.Unlike the career ladder mindset, which forces you to move in only one direction (up), let’s implement the lily-pad mindset, in which workers visualizes their career as a series of interconnecting leaps between different opportunities. What holds everything together are the roots of the lily pads—your purpose. Your roots may be driving you to do one thing now, but that thing may change in five years.”
“But companies need to adapt as well. They should be encouraging all of their employees to treat the office like a classroom and see where each employee fits best given their interests, skills, and purpose. If someone isn’t the right fit for an organization, that organization should help them find their next lily pad.”
Since defined benefit pensions are becoming rarer and rarer in the private sector, the rationale for staying put with one employer isn’t so compelling.
Hmmm, hasn’t that been the story for at least a full generation already? My father’s generation was supposed to be the up the career ladder one (didn’t work for him, but that’s another story.) I don’t know anyone my age who’s always worked on one place, and the majority of people I know have changed direction to at least some degree.
(comment on savings and home ownership is a red herring–different topic. Also, not really judgeable at the age they’re at then. Again, in their 20s, no one I knew owned homes or had much savings.)
Over-generalizations about generations never really seem germane.
I know a couple of anecdotes don’t refute a point, but H has been with the same large company since finishing his post-doc 27 years ago; we know many people there like that.
I also know several people who have stayed with the same company for decades. That said, yes, defined pension plans are going away. This is even true for the military. They haven’t been very vocal about it but I talk to someone recently who is considering a career in the military and discovered that in the next year they will be switching to a 401(k) rather than their traditional retirement pension
I’m surprised by this: More than one-third of Americans are freelancers (some 53 million Americans) - really?
And I personally like the lily pad concept over career ladder. My 27 year old D has a guy friend who is currently considering a lateral “career ladder” move to land in a better city - he has been with his company for 5 years, fresh out of college. She doesn’t understand why he doesn’t consider looking outside of his company to “lily pad”. Truth is, I think he is influenced by his parents who both recently retired from 25-30 year positions with their same respective jobs/employers.
the private company I work for has a traditional pension and some people who have been there for 25-30 years or more have some serious cash waiting for them.
when I graduated from college in 1994 - this was exactly the same message. This is not a millennial thing. I’ve never had a DB plan - they have been gone for 25 years even in (many many) large corporations.
I only know a handful of people who have been at the same company their entire career.
I know quite a few people who have been at the same place for 15, 20, or more years.
That said, I think it is more than just the lack of pension that keeps some people moving amongst younger adults. One is companies just aren’t as loyal as they used to be. Second, I think a lot of young people have some kind of side gig going so income from another source.
Question: I used to look askance at resumes of people that moved around every few years, when I helped make hiring decisions for my employer and I wasn’t the only one as it would come up when comparing candidates and discussing resumes. Is that something that is still “a thing” or an expectation of wanting to see some loyalty to company? Or has that changed?
My FIL worked at one aerospace company for 30 years, then another for 10. He is now retired and collects one enormous monthly pension check, one large monthly pension check, and one medium sized monthly social security check. One of the pensions (along with medicare) covers his healthcare.
This is wonderful for him, and helpful to us. But those days are over.
One of my kids companies paid for college classes as long as you stay for 2 years after completion.
The same company has a 5 year vesting term for 401k.
Neither of those were enough reason to stay. Left for a 40% raise and more exciting work.
H has been with NYS for 26 years. His pension and other retirement benefits are worth their weight in gold but you really have to put in 30 years to get full benefit. Quite a hit if you leave early.
S, whose been at his job for a little over a year, has been getting calls since the beginning from other companies. We told him to stay at least 5 years as he’ll be worth more then. Plus, his company heavily promotes from within and those who went through the training program a few years before him are already making in the $120k, living all over the world, too. My bet is that he’ll stay put for a long time - he loves his job and the company is great to their employees.
This isn’t exactly new. Since she got her first “career” post-college job, and not counting when she was in law school, my wife has worked for 11 different employers (one in two different gigs seven years apart), only one of which employed her as a lawyer. Every single move has essentially been lateral at best: many of the moves involved initial reductions in compensation. However, because she is a very effective person “lateral” tends to mean something different at the end of one job vs, the end of the previous job.
I have been with the same company now for almost 19 years since moving out west (11 years at the place back east). will be starting at her 5th place in those 19 years. We are telling the kids essentially what is in the article - 3 years then jump, do not get complacent. You will be judged on your skills, not your loyalty.
We know someone who went from Amazon to Microsoft for a $45k raise. Amazon wants him back for another $40k raise. In today’s economy, people unwilling to move are leaving a lot on the table.
The real question is, will that person regret spending his entire career chasing money around, instead of seeking balance?
I would argue that one can still remain competitive while staying at the same company. The key is knowing when to leave if they aren’t challenging you enough.
There are many different career paths and careers. Some involve jumping; some don’t. My friends in CS jumped every 2-5 years in their 20s and 30s, but in my field, you do not jump every 3 years. That would be career suicide. In my field, people tend to take a career turn after about 10-15 years if their career takes a turn towards high-level management or other types of senior positions. My eldest DS, a millennial, is in a field that requires him to jump every 1-3 years until he reaches (fingers crossed) a level of expertise and experience where he can land a long-term job. It’s not to chase $ (although yes that is the best way to increase salary), more it is simply the nature of the way you gain experience and expertise in his field: disaster relief coordination in conflict zones. yep, many different career paths out there…