The generation born between 1980 and 2000 doesn't seem to be fond of settling down. They're stereotyped as being unable to focus, inattentive multitaskers who flip aimlessly between applications and tabs on their phones.

It appears that the short attention span typical of Millennials has spread to the workplace, with many people in their twenties having worked for as many as four different companies in the last decade. However, job hopping may be less of an attention span issue and more of a selective attention issue. Younger workers are interested in trying out different fields of work and finding companies that compensate them fairly.

Why Do Millennials Change Jobs So Often?

Reasons, why millennials are so restless in their employment, are viewed from a variety of angles.

1. Millennial Workers Want to Explore Careers and Industries

Members of the baby boomer and generation x generations are praised for remaining loyal to their employers throughout their professional lives. However, some younger employees may not share this hope for a long career in the same company. According to Emily He, a former senior vice president of human capital management at Oracle, "for millennials, it is more of a matter of career exploration than ascending the traditional ladder." Studies show that today's college grads will have worked a dozen or more jobs by the time they're 30.

It's no longer looked down upon to frequently change careers, as it was in previous decades. It is now common practice for people to try out a few different fields before settling on a professional path that best suits their interests and skills. It's [socially and culturally] acceptable for them to experiment in today's unstable labor market, he said. It's no longer the norm. You're supposed to work in a variety of fields and jobs during your twenties as a means of figuring out what you want to accomplish with your life.

2. Millennials Want to Feel Part of Something Bigger

Do businesses have to accept high turnover rates among millennials if this generation's habit of frequently switching jobs is considered healthy? It's not necessary at all.

Tom Turner, the co-founder of digital forensics firm DSi, believes that if the workplace culture is welcoming, millennial employees will stay. Turner remarked, "Young workers today want to feel like they are contributing to something more meaningful than just their employment." They want to know the significance of their role in the company's overall success.

3. The Modern Management Culture Has Shifted

Furthermore, modern management practices have altered to prioritize their staff members. Workers are less reliant on their employers because they have more opportunities elsewhere. They value having a healthy work-life equilibrium. In response, businesses are getting innovative in their efforts to retain quality staff.

Turner cited a shift in "management culture" as an example. Before, workers were supposed to be grateful for the opportunity to work, but now it's the other way around. As a result, it's essential to foster a "performance culture" in which everyone is aware of and held to high standards.

How Often Do Millennials Job-Hop?

Zippia found that the average millennial employee tenure is 2.75 years. More than three times the rate of earlier generations, millennials switch employment at a rate of 21%, according to a Gallup analysis of the millennial generation. Gallup reports that the annual cost of this millennial churn is $30.52 billion.

According to Gallup's findings, 60% of working millennials are interested in exploring new career opportunities, whereas only 45% of non-millennials hold this view.

The fragmented nature of millennials' work histories is exacerbated by the fact that they commonly work many jobs at once.

How the Pandemic Affected Millennial Job-Hopping

Additional job-hopping among millennials and other generations of workers was prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees of all ages were dissatisfied with the level of support they received from their companies during the pandemic, according to a 2021 IBM assessment on post-pandemic expectations. As a result, many of the millennials, who now make up more than a third of the American labor force, looked elsewhere for jobs.

In spite of the fact that medical insurance is a major incentive for employees of all ages to remain on the job, 20% of workers will have switched jobs freely by the year 2020. Considering there would be 139 million workers in 2020, this indicates that 27.8 million workers will have willingly switched jobs during that time.

Does Gen Z Job-Hop Like Millennials?

In the workplace, members of Generation Z are known to dabble in a variety of fields and roles. They can set their own hours and earn more money by taking on side gigs rather than being tied down to a single job that pays less in the long run since they are not employed by a company or institution.

Most members of Generation Z were only three to five years removed from high school when the COVID-19 epidemic hit, leaving them with little time to plant professional roots in any field. Yet, the IBM study found that by 2020, Gen Z would make up 33% of job-hoppers, or roughly 9.2 million people.

After the pandemic is over, a few members of Generation Z aim to settle down professionally. A 2022 report by Lever Great Resignation found that 65% of millennials and 66% of Generation Zers planned to leave their jobs by the end of the year. Additionally, 13% of millennials and 62% of Gen Zers were more than twice as likely to resign within the next month as workers from any other generation.

Good managers no longer view job hopping negatively because they know that the old ways of thinking about the employer-employee relationship are ineffective when it comes to getting the most out of a younger worker. As work shifts from being completed in an assembly line fashion to being completed through asynchronous groupthink and shared projects, it is crucial for managers to transition from being bosses to being actual leaders and coaches.

What Industries See the Most Frequent Employee Turnover?

Workplace burnout is common in businesses where employees are expected to put in long hours for low pay or when they have no say in the end product. The average length of employment for workers in the film and audio recording sectors is only 1.4 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average tenure of professionals in the food preparation and service industry is only 1.6 years.

People who take employment where they will be overworked and underpaid probably know it will be temporary. Even in more conventional fields, employees frequently leave their jobs. Above-average turnover is not exclusive to the retail sector, with LinkedIn statistics showing that the professional services, technology and media, lodging, and apparel sectors all see similar levels of dislocation.

What Can Employers Do to Keep Millennial Employees?

Taking into account the concerns of younger employees can help retain them. Turner argued that retaining millennial workers might be aided by providing concrete policies and benefits that demonstrate the company's trust in its staff. Providing Gen Y workers with fantastic benefits like flexible work hours, health coverage, increased vacation time, and other perks will help retain them for a longer period of time.

Furthermore, if younger employees are encouraged to further their careers, they may remain with the company for longer. According to the Lever report, millennials are more interested in and committed to a firm if they are given the opportunity to take on new responsibilities, while Generation Z is the most likely to remain with the company if employers provide opportunities to expand their skill sets.

Workforce Relationships Are Changing

Goals and aspirations shift with time. There is always the possibility of wanting something new and more challenging, even if one is in a "great" work that will help one advance in their chosen field. It's possible that the way we interact in the workplace will change to value success over seniority.

Companies should shift their mindset from "How long can I keep you?" when hiring millennials to "How much can we accomplish together?" It was his words. "In a sea of adaptability and independent goals, enabling millennials to broaden their relationships beyond their own company can lead to a deeper, trust-filled employer-employee relationship, and millennials may pause before jumping ship to another organization."