PayScale, Inc. and Millennial Branding have released a study on the state of the Gen Y worker (ages 18 to 29).
What's important to this generation of workers? Flexibility, company culture and innovation, as well as the opportunity to use social networks at work are as important as a high paycheck. However, many Gen Y employees aren't working at the jobs and companies they necessarily want - retail, sales and merchandising are the top jobs held by survey respondents.
"This report confirms that Gen Y is an entrepreneurial group, highly versed in social media, and prefers freedom and flexibility over big corporate policies," said Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, "While they are the future corporate leaders and change-makers, they are suffering in this economy by having to work in retail jobs over professional ones. A bachelor's degree can no longer be traded in for a job."
Where Gen Y is Working
1. Over 63% of Gen Y workers have a Bachelor's Degree, but the most commonly reported jobs for Gen Y don't necessarily require a college degree. Gen Y workers are more likely to hold the following positions than other U.S. workers: Merchandise Displayer (5.36x more likely); Clothing Sales Representative (4.63x more likely); Cell Phone Sales Representative (4.03x more likely). This is a strong indicator of the underemployment issue in the U.S. today.
2. The best companies for Gen Y are all technology companies. The top five - ranked on Gen Y pay, percentage of Gen Y employees, Gen Y job satisfaction, Gen Y job stress, meaningfulness of job for Gen Y workers, Gen Y schedule flexibility and green score - are (1) Qualcomm, (2) Google, (3) Medtronic, (4) Intel, and (5) Microsoft.
3. Most of Gen Y isn't working for large companies. The highest concentration of Gen Y workers are at small companies with less than 100 employees (47%), followed by medium companies that have between 100 and no more than 1,500 employees (30%), and the fewest work in large companies with more than 1,500 employees (23%).
4. The most common Gen Y job skills center around online marketing and social media. The five most commonly reported job skills for Gen Y workers, relative to all U.S. workers, in order, are (1) Tableau Software, (2) Blogging, (3) Social Media Optimization, (4) Press Releases, and (5) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Analysis.
5. Gen Y is embracing science and entrepreneurism. Gen Y is more likely to choose the following college majors, relative to all U.S. workers: (1) Neuroscience (1.95x more likely); (2) Bioengineering (1.86x more likely); (3) Entrepreneurial Studies (1.82x more likely).
6. Seattle is the best large metro area for Gen Y workers. Of the 20 largest metro areas in the U.S., Seattle comes out on top for Gen Y, due to strong wage growth (4.4% increase between Q2 2009 and Q2 2012), high median pay for Gen Y ($44,000) and a strong presence of tech firms, which are top employers for Gen Y.
Job Search Tips for Gen Y
For Gen Y job seekers, here are tips and advice on getting the most out of social media when you're job searching - including Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, YouTube, MeetUp, and more. And here are the best part time jobs for college students.
Gen Y on the Job: PayScale and Millenial Branding Study | Job Stats
Read More: Entry Level Jobs | College Job Search Guide
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