50% of your millennial employees might be looking for a new job right now while ‘at work’

Employers should be prepared to work hard to retain their millennial employees this January after new research from Sellick Partnership shows that over half (50.8%) of jobseekers aged between 24 and 35 years old look for their next position while at their current place of work.

The national survey from the specialist recruitment agency asked people how they use mobile phones for job hunting and discovered that the most popular places millennials liked to search for a job was ‘whilst in bed’ (79.5%) followed by ‘watching television’ (75.2%) and ‘at my current job’ (50.8%).

However, the Sellick Partnership website received more visits on Wednesday 16 January 2019 at 11am, and Tuesday 29 January 2019 at 4pm than at any other time of last year, suggesting that jobseeking while at work is particularly prevalent at this time of year.

Jo Sellick, Managing Director at Sellick Partnership, says:

“Year after year we see a spike in people visiting our website in January. The fact that our two busiest times online in 2019 were during office hours in January demonstrates how popular job seeking while on the job has become.

“With this in mind, it is crucial for employers to pull out all the stops with their employment retention strategies as Blue Monday approaches, if they are to avoid losing valuable staff members to their competitors. This is particularly important if a high proportion of their workforce or senior management positions are currently filled with 24-35 year olds.”

The survey also revealed that more 24-35 year olds (26%) were ‘currently looking’ to move jobs than any other age group (see table):

Jo says:

“HR and managerial fatigue at this time of year, when staff members across the board are feeling a little tired, disillusioned and dissatisfied after the excitement of the festive season, can be a killer when it comes to keeping people engaged and excited about their work and the year ahead.

“To combat this lag in energy, HR and managers should up the ante to ensure staff feel engaged – and this does not have to involve anything too costly. Simple things such as consistent communication, positive reinforcement and recognition of a job well done can work wonders in helping employees feel valued and an integral part of the team.”