3 Benefits That Millennials Want... And You Probably Already Offer

millennial gen y workers and how to recruit
Free food, nap rooms, on-site gyms! these are just a few of the benefits rising in popularity across multiple industries, offered in large part for recruiting Millennials. But what if these perks don't fit your benefits strategy? Luckily, other company criteria are just as important to Gen Y workers, but are often overlooked as recruitment tools. Here are three major factors that attract Gen Y and you likely already offer them.

Recruiting Millennials with 3 Benefits You Already Have

IT Infrastructure: A Requirement for the Digital Native Employee

Have you ever spent a day working with IT on a software issue, or spent valuable meeting time trying to share files with remote employees or project your screen? Once you have, you know all too well that IT infrastructure can indeed be seen as a benefit one that plays a large, but often unattributed, role in employee satisfaction and productivity.
Workplace technology is an important consideration when choosing an employer for nearly 60% of young workers surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2011. A recent article by Wired.com noted that employees are expecting the same level of technology in their workplace as they do outside of work. Embracing new IT infrastructure and capabilities can serve as an untapped Millennials recruitment strategy, especially if this organizational priority is communicated during the recruitment process.

Work/Life Balance: It's What's Expected

Another way to attract Millennials is by emphasizing the company's philosophy on work/life balance. It is well established that Millennials want to work for organizations that offer work/life balance, but what this means in practice can differ widely from one employer to another. How does your corporate philosophy on work/life balance inform workload, scheduling, or location of employees? While it's unlikely that all organizations can promise work/life balance to all employees, all the time, Millennials appreciate transparency. When you clearly communicate the realities of your corporate culture, as well as steps the company's taking to help employees achieve work/life balance, you'll likely find that many young workers happily commit and join your team. For example: during the interview process, a recruiter can explain that the company often needs employees to work long hours, but realizes the strain this puts on home life and so makes a range of benefits available to employees to help alleviate this strain such as on-site child care or additional vacation time.

Workforce Development: Your Path to a Successful Workforce

Finally, your existing training and career opportunities are also a potential selling point to Millennials. Companies with programs and opportunities for growth attract Gen Y workers.  A clear idea of what they can achieve is also likely to prevent young employees from leaving after just a year a two. And even if advancement is not possible within a few years at your particular company, the opportunity to gain additional education and certifications while working is important to highlight while recruiting millennials (and other workers, too). By offering tuition assistance and reimbursement, you are also potentially supporting existing or future business objectives.


Even if your recruiters are already highlighting these factors when recruiting Millennial employees, take a minute to reflect on other parts of your organization that are unique or under-recognized to see if you are missing out on a potential recruiting tool.
Bright Horizons
About the Author
Bright Horizons
Bright Horizons
In 1986, our founders saw that child care was an enormous obstacle for working parents. On-site centers became one way we responded to help employees – and organizations -- work better. Today we offer child care, elder care, and help for education and careers -- tools used by more than 1,000 of the world’s top employers and that power many of the world's best brands
millennial gen y workers and how to recruit

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