Tweet This
It’s commencement season and another cohort of baby birds are leaving the college nest to test their wings in the real world. If you’re contemplating hiring one of these fluffy little Gen Z/millennial hybrids, there are a few things you should know about your prospective employees. A new survey from Accenture Strategy lays out the details.
They’re fine with earning a low salary, but they don’t realize how low it might be.
70% of the Class of 2016 would take a smaller paycheck if it meant working in a fun, social environment. Unfortunately, their understanding of their entry-level earning potential doesn’t align with labor market realities. 82% expect to earn more than $25,000 in their first job, while almost 40% of their 2015 peers are still earning less than that.
You’ll have fewer candidates to choose from.
Almost a quarter of 2016 grads have a job lined up before walking the stage to get their diploma. This is a healthy jump from 2015, when only 12% reported they were making an immediate transition to the workforce.
They expect to learn on the job.
If you think a resume filled with internships has prepared new grads for the working world, brace yourself. 80% will be joining your company expecting to receive formal on-the-job training. By contrast, only 54% of 2015 grads reported receiving training. If your organization doesn’t have a rigorous on-boarding process, expect that direct supervisors will be called upon to do some one-on-one hand-holding for new hires.
If you aren’t mobile, candidates won’t find you.
This is what Tinder has wrought. A whopping two-thirds of Class of 2016 grads expect to rely on a mobile app as part of their job search. If the only place you’re advertising open position is on your non-mobile-friendly corporate website, don’t expect to be on the radar of the best and brightest.
They don’t want to join the gig economy.
In the near future, we may all be one-person micro-firms, cobbling together an existence out of disparate part-time, freelance or contract opportunities. For the Class of 2016, that future isn’t a welcome one. 71% report that they want a full-time role, with only 2% saying they aspire to be contractors and 3% claiming that they have entrepreneurial ambitions. Young pragmatists that they are, 40% of new grads did acknowledge that while it wouldn’t be their first choice, they'd freelance if they had to.
They’re not disloyal by nature.
Hiring a new grad doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be left high and dry in 18 months when they move on to greener pastures. In fact, 66% plan to remain at their first job for at least three years. It’s up to you to figure out how to incentivize them to stay put.
Values matter.
Almost all soon-to-be grads (92%) report that it’s at least somewhat important for them to work for a company that makes a demonstrable effort to improve the world. You don’t need to be a game-changing international NGO to attract these idealists, though. Initiatives like an office recycling program, time off to volunteers and opportunities to support charities go a long way to helping entry-level employees feel as if they aren’t just selling their souls for a salary.
