 |
    
        |
Long-term security on their minds
Generation Y professionals are already thinking about retirement and seeking a healthy work-life balance.
BY JOHN ANASTASI
COURIER TIMES
Despite their youthful exuberance, members of so-called Generation Y already are thinking about their long-term financial security, according to a recent survey.
Salary, health care and retirement benefits ranked highest among career concerns — even ahead of job stability and career satisfaction — in the survey of 1,007 college-educated workers ages 21 through 28.
But that doesn't mean they're a money-hungry bunch, said Howard "Chip" Baker of Bucks County's BEACON WorkLife Connections. Their priorities are shaped by concerns over the economy, the future of Social Security and even the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Baker said.
"Generation Y has started saving very early," he said. "They are already thinking about how to save money for retirement. This is a generation that's old enough to remember 9/11. I think 9/11 changed a lot. They have this idea of safety — personal, financial and career."
Baker provides training and workshops on employment issues for various organizations for BEACON, which is a program of the Bucks County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency Inc.
The survey, commissioned by staffing firm Robert Half International and Yahoo! Hot Jobs, found that 33 percent of those surveyed listed salary, benefits and retirement planning as their top career concerns.
"I think we are much more cognizant of [our futures]," said Nick Medaglio, a 23-year-old Bucks County native living in New York City. "We definitely worry about our 401(k) [investments] and we use other savings plans."
Job stability ranked second, with 26 percent concerned about it. Career satisfaction placed third, with 23 percent expressing concern.
"The Gen Y professionals we surveyed were focused on practical concerns, such as saving enough money for retirement and being able to balance work and family obligations," Reesa Staten, Robert Half's workplace research director, said in a statement.
One of the reasons career satisfaction might have trailed other choices is that young professionals are looking for fulfillment beyond the workplace, said Medaglio, a Central Bucks East High School graduate who received a marketing degree from Villanova University.
"Younger workers are looking for a good work-life balance," he said. "It's not that it's laziness. They know there's more value on the outside."
Job stability might have placed behind salary because many Generation Y workers expect to change careers much more often than previous generations, said Baker.
"They're building portable careers, where they can pick up and move," said Baker. "They value creativity and independent thinking. They don't like command-and-control."
Upper Makefield's Jo Leonard runs Jo Leonard LLC, a career coaching business that helps young people navigate the professional landscape.
"They do get bored quickly," she said. "They want portfolio careers. They move from one [career] to another and build on it until they find something they really like."
Even though the Robert Half survey ranked career satisfaction third, Leonard said young people do care very much about having jobs where they feel appreciated.
"People want to be happy on the job and they want to be recognized for doing a good job and making an important contribution," she said of young workers.
John Anastasi can be reached at 215-949-4170 or janastasi@phillyBurbs.com.
