The Value in Job Hopping
“Millennials: The Job Hopping Generation” This is an article title from a Gallup article that states that millennials are job hopping more than any other generation and that it is costing businesses money on turnover. While I haven’t seen the statistics for Gen Z yet my guess is there is a similar trend of switching jobs more often than their elders. I recognize both sides of this conversation, as someone who has managed people having a high turnover rate can be extremely frustrating, what I always keep in mind is:
As a manager, what can I be doing to mitigate this?
Does it really make sense to have people here who don’t want to be here?
As a member of Gen Z, I feel the argument for staying at your current company is often based in “Well we all have to pay our dues and this company has done so much for us.” Seniority is a whole different blog post, so more on that later, and I just don’t buy into companies doing that much for their employees. Ultimately I think it comes down to two things:
Responsibility - Do I have enough financial responsibility to stay at this job I don’t like?
Willingness to be unhappy? Am I willing to be unhappy to stay here?
Millennials and Gen Zs are likely to job hop more often because they are waiting to spend money on things like a wedding, a house and kids so they have less financial responsibility and therefore more freedom to job hop.
I don’t have any proof of this, but I have a hunch that this younger generation has a lower tolerance for doing things they don’t like to do. There is undoubtedly value in doing things you don’t want to do, doing laundry, dishes, etc. are just things that have to be done. But why would you stay at a job you don’t like when there is a business down the street that is hiring for a job you do want? I think that these generations are perceived as lacking grit, and some individuals are, but I think grit is doing things that need to be done, not doing things you don’t like just for the sake of having grit.
The question I would really like to answer isn’t why Millennials and Gen Zs are job hopping, it is if it’s a good thing? In a perfect world everyone loves their job and is good at their job. We all know that isn’t true, but what if job hopping helps move us toward that? Job hopping could start to force companies to look at how to mitigate turnover and will hopefully end with someone finding a job they both love and are good at.
Ultimately, The Gap Year, or internships as a whole is safe and controlled job hopping. The intern knows that this is temporary, so even if they don’t like it there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Companies know that they get this intern for 3 months so they can pour the appropriate amount of resources into training this intern rather than training an employee fully and completely that just ends up leaving them because the culture wasn’t a good fit. I of course would love every young adult in America to go through a program like The Gap Year, and I would like every company to utilize interns to their full potential. However, even if you don’t go through us I highly encourage you to try out different industries, different cultures, company sizes, work styles, etc. Even if Company A and Company B have the exact same mission they likely have a totally different way of accomplishing that mission and that can be what makes the difference in how much people enjoy their job. So, go, explore! Dare to find what you love, and then do it.
Gallup Article: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231587/millennials-job-hopping-generation.aspx
