The media has a love-hate relationship with millennials (people born between 1980 and 1995). While their tech habits are marvelled at, they are labelled everything from disloyal to oversensitive ‘snowflakes’. However, as the UK workforce ages and retires, the future of our industry lies in the hands of these same millennials… Cue: panic.

In fact, in one survey carried out last year, 63% of employers agreed that millennial recruitment, retention and productivity is the ‘biggest threat’ to the workplace. But what is all the fuss about, and who really are ‘millennials’?

Predictions say that millennials will make up 50% of the global workforce by 2020 – that’s anyone aged 23-38, including men, women, parents, graduates, etc. With such a vast group, we take a look at some common workplace complaints, to help us understand why millennials get so much stick:

• Millennials are job hoppers
• Millennials are demanding and lazy
• Millennials lack key skills

1.    Millennials are job hoppers

According to Deloitte’s 2018 millennial survey, 43% of this age group are thinking about leaving their current job in the next two years, and only 26% plan on staying for 5 years or more.

Such statistics make employers uneasy and, with the average cost of employee turnover currently around £11,000 per person, it’s no surprise! But remember: staff churn is natural, if not necessary for your business’ health.

That said, there is clearly a problem among millennial employees that needs to be solved. The question: “Why do we work so hard just to die?” was searched approximately 2,200 times in the UK in 2017, employee engagement platform Perkbox found.

So how should businesses retain millennial talent? Start by asking why people are leaving your organisation - letting them leave without an effective exit interview will cost you both money and valuable knowledge.

Knowing where your business could be lacking (in their eyes) will help you to recruit better and also retain employees for longer. Coupled with the support of a consultant who really understands the demands of your sector, and you will be in the best place to attract and retain the right millennial talent for your business.

2.    Millennials are demanding and lazy

While productivity in most western economies has slowed since 2008, a recent report in the Financial Times claims: “Britain’s slowdown has been more dramatic…Annual growth in productivity has plummeted from average annual rates of about 2.3%, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, to 0.4% in the past decade.”

There are many reasons for this but according to economist, Douglas McWilliams, it’s because millennials want greater work-life balance, which has given way to the so-called ‘lifestyle economy’. However, if we look a little deeper, we realise that all they are really asking for is flexibility.

A recent productivity study undertaken by HSBC found that 18% left their last job due to ‘poor’ work-life balance; despite 30% of UK businesses offering employees flexible working.

Is your inflexible approach driving staff away? Employees wanting flexibility isn’t just a whim.

Older millennials are often working parents, so the opportunity to work remotely or part-time is often vital. While the younger generation are used to working on the move, whenever and wherever, this is a fact of life many employers are yet to catch up with.

Increased flexibility - for candidates and employers alike - is one reason why we created the Angel Academy of Excellence (AAE). This is a rewarding progression scheme designed to attract, retain and employ the very best people looking for temporary contracts.

Through a combination of client feedback and on-going assessments, AAE cultivates temporary candidates with the very specific skills and capabilities that businesses need; while employees gain purpose, flexibility and development.

The notion that millennials lack key work skills is compounded by numerous studies, which revealed that:

• Only 40% of millennials have all of the core skills required for the future world of work - the worst rate of all generations
• 39% say they interact more with their smartphones than they do with their significant others (parents, friends, children and co-workers)

But what are workplaces doing to interact with their millennial cohort?