The Solution to Millennial Employment Turnover
August 1, 2018The Millennial Generation or those born from 1981 – 1996i seem to be the biggest target for social commentary. Millennials have been blamed for the decrease in napkin sales, the increase in renting versus buying, and have numerous stereotypes like the generation without social skills. If it isn’t clear, Millennials have certainly become the generation every other group loves to hate.
If the lack of social skills weren’t enough, here is another reason people are finding it hard to approve of the millennial generation – the lack of loyalty to employers. Currently, 60% of millennials are open to a different job.i The loyalty that previous generations had to their employer is lost among the Millennial Generation. There doesn’t seem to be any lost and found box where companies can go to find that lost loyalty, either. Could it be the lack of raises or is it something missing from your human resource offerings?
The average college graduate leaves school with $37,172 in student loan debtii. That college debt is more than any previous generation. When your workers are carrying more debt, they are more conscious of what they are getting paid. Student loan debt can be like a fire for some borrowers, as they need to eliminate the debt as soon as possible before incurring additional damage.
Allow us to put this employee need in perspective for you. Three in five young workers say a higher priority for them is paying off their student loans, not retirementiii. What a compelling insight into what young workers are focused on. This provides a perfect illustration of why your traditional Human Resource benefits like a 401K may no longer be enough to keep a young workforce motivated.
Before we continue, let’s clear something up, the problem of student loan debt doesn’t only affect younger workers. Though younger Millennial workers are highly affected, one in five adults, ages 30 to 44, have student loan debt according to PEW researchiv. So what can you do as an employer to address the concern of student loan debt and keep your employee motivated?
We would recommend adding student loan education and assistance to your suite of HR benefits. It’s a no-brainer to add an HR benefit that doesn’t cost your company anything. Yes, you, as an employer would pay nothing to offer this to your employees. Education Loan Finance offers a program where a link can be placed directly into your HR portal. It’s almost effortless to partner with a company and offer this benefit!
Want to blow your employees out of the water? Consider offering to contribute to your employee’s loans. You’ll never have problems with employees leaving, at least while they have student loan debt anyways. There are multiple different methods available to offer student loan contribution to your employees. You could offer a type of sign on bonus payment to be applied directly to the principal of the loan. These types of bonuses are great for the holiday season, sign-on bonuses, or reward for a job well-done. A second popular method of contribution is a monthly payment. Below is a chart we’ve put together to illustrate how employer contributions can have a huge impact on student loan debt. Take a look for yourself and see how an employee with student loan debt could be easily motivated based on this simple and free HR benefit.
| Total Employee Loan Debt |
Loan Lifetime | Interest Rate | Annual Employer Bonus | Total Employee Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $37,000 | 10 years | 6% | $1,000 | $10,269 |
| $200,000 | 7 years | 6% | $1,000 | $5,843 |
| $200,000 | 10 years | 6% | $1,000 | $11,102 |
If you aren’t sure if student loan repayment assistance is right for your company that’s okay, but keep that in mind any time you receive a two-week notice from an employee. There are multiple plans available to help your employees navigate their way through student loan debt repayment.
Common offerings an employee can gain by working with a company may include employer contributions, student loan refinancing, and educational tools. So how does an employer add this to their employee offerings? It’s simple, by partnering with student loan refinance companies like Education Loan Refinance; you have the opportunity to make student loan debt assistance benefits a reality for your employees. Now, there is no guarantee that offering benefits to employees will keep them from leaving. Aside from benefits, there are billions of reasons people leave jobs. For younger generations like the always loved Millennials taking on more and more debt each year, this is a MUST. To be considered groundbreaking and modern, your company will need to be offering student debt assistance.
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i http://www.elfi.com/elfiforbusiness/
ii http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/191459/millennials-job-hopping-generation.aspx
iii https://www.creditdonkey.com/average-student-loan-payment.html
iv https://d9jmqzwnxk1s1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/14141823/asa_young_worker_and_student_debt_survey_report-1.pdf
v http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/24/5-facts-about-student-loans/