warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Millennials Are Redefining The Idea Of Work-Life Balance

Paige Parker |
November 24, 2015 | 8:11 p.m. PST

Contributor

Paige Parker/Annenberg Media
Paige Parker/Annenberg Media

A new generation of workers is taking the business world by storm and shattering the traditional corporate structure. A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers study of millennials shows that this innovative generation values the work-life balance concept more than generations before them. 

Top tech companies, such as LinkedIn, are adding alluring benefits to their corporate polices to accommodate millennial demands for this work-life balance and, as a result, attract some of the most competitive recruits.

LinkedIn recently announced that it’s offering employees unlimited paid time off, and many other top tech companies, such as Google, offer free lunches, snacks and even fitness and wellness centers to their workers to help keep them happy at work. 

Phil Schaben, media and entertainment account manager at Google, said the perks are very attractive. “It’s awesome not to have to think about lunch, or to be able to bring your dog to work—that’s super cool.” 

According to the Cassandra Report, millennials will make up 40 percent of the workforce by 2020, making it more essential than ever for companies to embrace the needs of this generation of workers. 

READ MORE: A New GenHERation: Fueling The Demand For Female Empowerment

A 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce study by Elance-o-desk & Millennial Branding showed that 58 percent of millennials stay at their jobs for fewer than three years. And added to the struggle of retaining hired millennials, 53 percent of hiring managers admitted in the study they still have trouble recruiting within this age group. 

This may be because millennials have a different set of criteria for job satisfaction than previous generations. PwC's global generation study of 1,000 millennials uncovered the new generation’s values. “Millennials value greater flexibility, appreciation, team collaboration and global opportunities,” the PwC’s Next Gen study reports.

Schaben says Google does a great job at keeping its employees content and eager to stay at the company. “It’s the Golden Handcuffs. We’ve got it pretty good. Just how they treat you makes me want to stick around,” Schaben says. 

Tech companies such as BuzzFeed, Facebook and Microsoft recognize the importance of employee’s satisfaction as well, especially with the millennial generation. 

One BuzzFeed employee said they often get free lunches, bagels every Friday, movie nights, an annual Christmas party and some offices are dog friendly. 

READ ALSO: Brooke Anderson Of 'Entertainment Tonight': How To Own Your Day[Dream] Job

Even the Microsoft campus in Seattle keeps employees happy by making it easy for employees to run errands at work. An on-campus salon, mini day spa, 11 restaurants, a bank, dry cleaning drop off and pick up, on-site doctors and subsidized memberships to gyms are just some of the many benefits the company offers.

Facebook offers rivaling perks on their campus, including free bikes and bike repair, free professionally cooked meals three times a day and an office loaded with snacks.

Other industries are catching on and recognizing the importance of work-life balance for millennials too. Virgin founder and CEO Richard Branson recently said in an interview that if employees are happy, they will be more productive. “If working nine to five no longer applies, then why should strict annual [vacation] policies?” Branson said. The company offers unlimited paid time off for top-level employees.

This is a huge victory for American employees considering the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average U.S. worker gets approximately 12 paid vacation days annually after fives years at a company. Quite the contrast to our European counterparts, such as England, where employees are given an average of 36 vacation days a year, as a Mercer report divulges. 

Reach contributor Paige Parker here



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.