Millennials are frequently derided as job-hopping slackers who prefer “gigs” to careers and don’t think about job security because they are happy moving from company to company.
Based on hundreds of interviews colleagues and I have conducted with millennials, we’ve concluded that many of them want job security a lot more than people think they do. They saw the devastating effects of layoffs on people’s lives during the Great Recession and its aftermath, and are concerned about finding themselves in a similar situation. They want the chance to put down roots, to buy homes or cars or have long-term leases, to save for retirement, to plan ahead for the next few years, not just the next season. But many don’t think they can make those financial or personal commitments because they don’t believe they have job security.