Want to attract and recruit today’s tech graduates? Then, it’s imperative to offer flexibility and an attractive benefits package exciting enough to attract the attention of millennials and Generation Z.
So, what do millennials want in the workplace?
At Benify, we recently conducted a survey to find out the top employee benefits for recent IT graduates. To do this, we interviewed hundreds of tech graduates and undergraduates and asked them which workplace perks they ranked as most important.
Can benefits help to attract and recruit IT professionals?
Tech graduates pose a huge challenge for today’s talent managers and recruiters with one of the biggest challenges being able to find out what they want.
Today’s graduates belong to a demographic which includes qualified and highly skilled professionals such as engineers, analysts, developers, and programmers. Their unique nature can make knowing what they want hard to predict especially when it comes to employee compensation and benefits.
Why is it so difficult to recruit graduates and millennials in the tech sector?
In the 2017 Tech Nation survey (Tech City), over half of the UK’s tech companies revealed that they were experiencing a shortage of highly skilled employees.
This shortage of skilled employees is not restricted to just tech companies; this shortage appears to extend to all industries. As shown in the 2018 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, many organisations are falling short when it comes to finding employees with internal cybersecurity and data science skills.
Last year’s GDPR appears to have also highlighted this increased demand for professionals specializing in cybersecurity and data protection. This can also be attributed to a growing dependency on cloud computing across most of today’s workplaces. According to Microsoft UK, as many as 96% of today’s enterprises now use some form of cloud technology.
So, what are the top employee benefits for today’s IT graduates and millennials?
The 5th most popular benefit for millennials is the office dog
Who would have thought that bringing the dog to work would be rank so high on the wish list for millennials? Forget ping pong tables, having a pet-friendly workplace is one of the best ways to attract millennials and man's best friend may yet be the answer how you can build a strong employer brand and attract younger talent. Consider implementing an office doggy daycare booking system within your benefits portal.
At number 4 is the home office
Being allowed to work from home requires both confidence and trust between the employer and the employee, and if this exists (along with discipline from the employee), the home office has many advantages. One thing is for sure is that it’s clear that modern employers seeking to attract millennials must be willing to embrace the working-from-home option.
Technology has also made it easier for employers to allow employees to work from home and research shows that home working can increase productivity and reduce business overheads.
As an employee, in addition to the luxury of not having to brush your hair in the morning, working from home offers you the ability to work in peace, without disruptions or distractions, which is especially valuable when working on focus-intensive tasks such as Excel sheets.
Coming in at number 3 is the freedom to roam...and return
A sabbatical year or long leave of absence is third on the wish list of what millennials want from their employer. Millennials don’t want to wait until they retire to travel and many employees today reach a dilemma where they want to take a “timeout” to travel and discover both their inner and outer worlds, but they don’t necessarily want to leave their current place of employment.
As stated in an article in Fortune, “employers need to create business models that support their employees’ desire to take time off, have a positive work-life balance, or work longer and retire later.”
It may seem ironic but the best way to retain talent is to offer them the freedom to go…and then return.
At number 2 is the ongoing development and the thirst for knowledge
Millennials have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a desire to constantly learn and develop both personally and professionally. They want to be coached by mentors and offered further education and development in the form of workshops and seminars. So, why not take advantage of Benify's benefits platform and enable employees to enroll in employer-approved courses or workshops?
The number 1 for millennials is...flexible working hours
If there’s just one benefit millennials desire more than anything else, it’s flexible working hours. As the line between work time and free time becomes more blurred, it’s important to offer younger generations the ability to work flexible hours and work hours that suit their lifestyle.
From the employer’s perspective, it’s, of course, important to have frameworks in place so that the flexibility offered is not misused. Once the framework is established, flexible working hours will lead to happier, more engaged employees, which means better results for the company. It’s a win-win situation.