Could your mobility program help you retain Gen Z employees?

A recent Fortune article shared that "Retaining talent has become a top operational priority, beating out revenue growth". Of the 3,500 for-profit and nonprofit organizations surveyed by consulting services firm Gallagher, 51% report that retaining talent is a top operational priority, beating revenue or sales goals (47%), maintaining or decreasing overall operating costs (29%), and ensuring business continuity (24%).

According to the article, most organizations (78%) are increasing base salaries to retain employees. They’re also assessing variable compensation or bonus programs (40%), medical benefits (39%), and well-being initiatives (38%). The other areas that tend to push employees away are the lack of career advancement, uncaring or uninspiring leadership, poor work culture, and limited flexibility. So companies are working on enhancing these areas too. 

When we look more closely at Gen Z, (born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s), we see some other interesting trends. While 97% of Gen Zers admit that work is part of their identity, you'll see that this group of employees can be particularly challenging to hold onto. In a recent survey released by ResumeLab, a huge majority (83%) consider themselves job hoppers and aren't planning on sticking around. When honing in on those Gen Zers with a masters degree, it goes up to 92%! On the other hand, the survey revealed that 78% of Gen Zers declare a 2 to 5 year commitment to their current employer. Add to that some additional data from EY and its Work Reimagined Survey, which found that 38% of Gen Z and 37% of millennials say they want to leave. 

With these employees early in the careers, there is a huge opportunity for growth (and retention) in these first years, and presenting development opportunities might be the key to keeping Gen Z employees long-term. This is where global mobility can support key talent assignments, providing Gen Zers the chance to enhance their skills, experiences, and connections across the organization. Short-term assignments may be perfect for and critical to allowing these employees to job hop within the company, as opposed to out of it. 

This Fast Company article shared that ultimately, Gen Zers value many things above money. The most important thing to Gen Z, according to the survey, is a healthy work-life balance, with 73% of respondents saying that balance is more important to them than a high salary. Satisfying job duties and a good relationship with coworkers are also both more important than salary for 72% of workers, and 70% of workers care more about having a meaningful job and career development than having a big paycheck.  Because of this, companies are working at Increasing engagement, employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention. In fact, 76% of companies say they are placing greater emphasis on skills development and career engagement in the Randstad Enterprise's 2023 Talent Trends Report!

For more on how mobility can support talent retention, try these:

New stats and a benchmark on international short-term assignments (STAs)

Mobility's response to current talent trends?

New info on why talent mobility matters

Want to know more about what it is like to be part of the group that has been called the most diverse generation in U.S. history? Here is what 900 Gen Zers had to say.