Millennials are Redefining Stability
In April 2020, shortly after the country shut down, and when Zoom happy hours were still a novel occurrence, my husband and I spent a bleak evening discussing with friends our predictions for a post-COVID society. One friend, who happens to be an economics professor said, “there are no models to predict anything. But what we do know is anytime there’s a national economic trauma, it changes behavior, for an entire generation, and there’s no way to predict how.”
I almost laughed. It was pretty clear to me what the economic reaction would be. I assumed that people who were fortunate enough to have stable jobs, predictable paychecks, and the ability to work from home would cling to that stability.
I was wrong.
Fourteen months later, I’ve launched my own business and devised a plan for self-employment. And I’m not alone.
According to a Harris Poll, 52% of employed people are looking to change jobs in 2021, an increase from previous years, and the complete opposite of what the conventional wisdom might have predicted. Start-ups and entrepreneurships are also on the rise. People seem to be inviting unpredictability and risk. Why is this happening? Some have posited the increased value placed on flexibility resulting from the great work from home experiment is what’s driving this trend.
For me and many of the women I work with as a career coach, there’s a different answer. This year has caused us, as a generation, to redefine stability. Stability for us is no longer synonymous with a predictable, bi-weekly, direct deposit check. This last year, with the systems we rely on for support, stress relief, child care, and community suddenly gone, many of us threw ourselves into working from home, often late into the night. This was particularly true for those of us who found ourselves caring for young children while simultaneously trying to meet demanding deliverables at our day jobs. The emotional and physical toll of that workload was untenable, and has caused a massive re-evaluating of what we want out of our careers and we’re pivoting fast.
In a way, pivoting is in our generation’s collective DNA. Older millennials like myself exited high school in a post-9/11 world of insecurity, entered the work force in the midst of the Great Recession, and parented young children in the midst of a pandemic. Each of these historic events has been punctuated by severe weather events caused by climate change. While we’ve adapted to survive and thrive in an unpredictable world, in many cases, our employers have not.
This adaptability of millennials has been characterized as a lack of loyalty to employers. But the women that I work with are far from disloyal. Many have tied themselves in proverbial knots to please abusive supervisors, meet impossible productivity demands, and stay focused in toxic work cultures. The work conditions ushered in by the pandemic accelerated the realizations that the criticism should be aimed at the employer, not the employee and that consistent paychecks are not bringing stability to our lives if the resulting stress is unsustainable.
That’s why the women that I work with are changing the culture of work by voting with their feet. They’re looking for employers that will not only avoid crossing, but help them protect work-life boundaries. They’re seeking job opportunities that offer mentorship, career development, flexibility, and trust in their talents and work-ethic. They’re looking for mission-driven work that aligns with their personal values.
And in the 2021 economy, they’re finding positions or creating careers for themselves in droves.
Alison Shih is a coach for high achieving women seeking to make a career transition. She and her husband live in New Orleans with their two-year old daughter and neurotic corgi. Website: alisonshih.com; Instagram: alisonshih.coaching