Luring millennials to 9-to-5
Farmer’s markets, dog-walking, free massage on tap
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s a culinary school and a fitness complex. On some days, it’s a farmers market.
“This is the culmination of everything you’ve been waiting for,” pitches Cerner Corp.’s website dedicated to the upcoming crop of college graduates.
In its nonstop hunt for young talent, what Kansas City’s medical-data giant does not pitch very hard is that it’s a corporation.
Employers everywhere know that millions of millennials favor independence and choice. On laptops they can launch start-ups from a couch. Famous for protesting the ways of Wall Street, many are drawn to Uber, eBay, freelancing and other parts of a burgeoning gig economy that lets them earn a living without answering to The Man.
But their skills are needed.
So companies seeking young professionals are crafting benefits to help employees be purposeful, proud and personal.
Human resource managers say benefit options should integrate job life, home life and social life to address the “whole person” rather than just the one in the cubicle.
This is the year to do it. The 2018 graduation season ushers into the workforce the tail end of the largest American generation of all time. And they’re facing arguably the best job market that the under-35 demographic has ever known.
Though this generation’s bookend ages have always teetered, the nonprofit Pew Research Center set the years of birth from 1981 to 1996. That places more than 56 million millennials in the job market, now outnumbering baby boomers.
The youngest are about 21 and are wrapping up four-year degrees.
In 2015, the U.S. workforce’s “on-demand” revolution lured 3.2 million people, mostly millennials, to Uber, Amazon Flex and other app-driven gig platforms. According to software consultant Intuit, that number will more than double by 2020.
The challenge for conventional employers is to coax this generation into the office 9 to 5.
For some time, the Grant Thornton accounting firm has been among the more innovative of major employers rolling out appealing perks.
Here’s the latest: free breast-milk delivery.
New moms at Grant Thornton can pump while on business trips and have the milk shipped overnight to their babies in Kansas City.
The company has a deal with a California outfit called Milk Stork to address a practical dilemma for young working mothers. That’s in addition to benefits such as unlimited days off and $100 reimbursements for adopting rescue animals.
Workplace recruiters “want employers to recognize all those important aspects of their lives and not just their life at work,” said Jessica Robino, human resources manager at Grant Thornton.
At Pro Athlete Inc., a Kansas City-area online retailer of sporting goods, unlimited paid time off — so long as your tasks are done — is part of its “empowerment culture.”
Besides creating an environment in which Pro Athlete workers wish to stay — most are in their 20s or 30s — plum benefits make sense from a practical standpoint: Today’s techies can be be tomorrow’s competitors.
After all, “anyone these days can download Shopify and be running their own online (store) in a matter of months,” said chief operating officer Andrew Dowis, himself a millennial at age 33.
Pro Athlete perks that older workers would likely never expect include nocost health coverage, weekly massages and free meals all day at work.
Still, newfangled benefits may not be the ticket to get young, creative professionals in the door.
“The thing that draws me the most is making decent money,” said University of Missouri-Kansas City music student James Taylor.
Many companies have buffed up packages to include assistance to relieve crushing student loans, free gym memberships, smartphone discounts, protection against identity theft and paid time off for staff to attend charity causes.
“There’s a social aspect to the work environment that we think is important” to younger employees, said Julie Wilson, executive vice president and “chief people officer” at Cerner Corp.
The social aspect includes Cerner campuses offering monthly cooking classes, dog-walking services, days in which local farmers bring in their organically grown produce, and personal financial planning.
Elders might grumble that a generation who grew up pampered with praise and participation trophies must now be coddled in their careers. But many employers see it differently.
“Millennials are expecting a different work experience, and that’s affecting all workers positively,” said Chris Gould, director of global talent acquisition at the Kansas City headquarters of Black & Veatch engineers.
“The thing that draws me the most is making decent money.” — James Taylor, University of Missouri-Kansas City music student