Generation Y: How to Retain Them - Part III of VIII
This is the third in an eight part series of blog articles. To read the series from the beginning, start at Part I or download our free best practices white paper.
Job Satisfaction vs. Salary Requirements
College tuition costs are increasing at a rapid rate at virtually every school, virtually every year. According to the Rule of 7-11 -- a rule which is well known to financial analysts around the world -- a sum of money will double in size in 11 years if it earns interest at the rate of seven percent per year. Similarly, a sum of money will double in size in seven years if it earns interest at the rate of 11 percent per year. So how does this relate to Gen Y and whether they’re community focused and not primarily motivated by money, whether they hop from job-to-job whenever the employer across the street offers them even the most modest of pay increases? If Gen Y wants to work for environmentally conscious companies that believe in transparency and they want a good work-life balance, why do they job hop? Because of the Rule of 7-11 Rapidly escalating college tuition costs have sunk many Gen Y employees deeply in debt and, consequently, forced them to choose salary over personal satisfaction.
Melissa B., an employee at CMU, is a great example of a Millennial who has attempted to have both job satisfaction and a competitive salary. Melissa became an employee of CMU because she was in a “familiar atmosphere” as an alumna of CMU. She knew the campus and its overall culture. In addition, she believed that her bachelor’s in psychology would enable to her to move up within the department and ultimately realize her dream of becoming an academic advisor. When it became apparent that this was “not necessarily the case,” Melissa decided to start casting her career net elsewhere. “I’m looking for something that is student service focused,” Melissa said. “I will hold out for that because it’s important.” In the meantime, Melissa has chosen to remain an employee of CMU because she still has bills to pay.
A different example is Emily Rosolowski, a first-year graduate student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Rosolowski also works as an admissions assistant at CMU. The 25-year-old fine arts major took her job at CMU to help pay for graduate school, though her dream is to work in museum registration. For Rosolowski and Melissa B., although job satisfaction and a good salary are both important, their need to earn money takes precedence. “I’m more interested in trying to follow my career path,” Rosolowski said, “but I need to eat.”
James E. McClenahan, Jr., director of the career services department at Duquesne University, believes that Gen Y graduates aren’t really so different from any other generation. “They want a job that’s interesting, that pays a fair salary, and provides ample opportunity for advancement,” he said.
According to Baker, recent college graduates can earn anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 per year depending on their major and the amount of internship experience they have. “But it’s more on the lower end,” Baker said, and she advises students to do a lot of research and be educated about the organizations in which they’re interested. One way organizations can facilitate this research is by, in some way, making it clear on their Web sites that new hires don’t start out earning high-end salaries. If this can be done without giving specific salary amounts, it might help candidates form realistic expectations. A willingness to negotiate with promising candidates might also instill a tendency toward loyalty in new hires.
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