Barna on Millennials and Work

There’s a brief report from Barna here on ‘When Millennials go to Work’.

It comes out of the US, and I’m never quite sure how it stacks up in the UK context, but I suspect there’ll be a fair amount of overlap.

Here are some sample paragraphs:

‘Although most Millennials agree their career is at least somewhat central to their identity, only a third say their career is very central. In fact, Boomers are more likely than Millennials to believe their career is central to who they are.

‘So what do Millennials deem most central to their identity? “Family” and “personal interests” are the top two categories. “Career” is actually one of the least likely categories to be named – the only category it beats is “technology.”

‘For [Christian] Millennials, “calling” is more than just about being called toward religious or ministry professions – they are thinking about whether they are “called” by God to their secular jobs as well. To be clear, most of them (69%) define “calling” not in a fixed, permanent way, but as something that can change over time as they age. This means they are likely thinking about whether they are called to their current work at this point in their lives, not for a lifetime.

‘A lifetime career trajectory is not an expectation for most Millennials; they anticipate changing jobs often and will likely do so in pursuit of work that better aligns with their passions. As Millennials become a larger and larger segment of the employee market, companies will need to shift policies and incentives to appeal to these desires. Training, mentorship, opportunities for independence and fluidity within roles will become important factors in employee retention.’