COPENHAGEN, LONDON and NEW YORK (June 5, 2019) – Millennials—often described as a generation driven by passion and the pursuit of purpose—report being less inspired by the purpose and mission of their organisation than their older peers, and are also least satisfied with their pay relative to other generations, according to new research from the world’s leading employee retention platform, Peakon.

• Millennials find less meaning in their work compared to older generations. Only 2 in 5 say they find meaning in their work. 
• Millennials are least satisfied with their pay compared to older peers. Only 1 in 5 are satisfied with their pay.
• Baby Boomers group is the most engaged after 3 years of tenure.
• Baby Boomers are the most loyal and satisfied generation with most faith in their organisation’s strategy.

The research, based upon more than 40 million Peakon survey responses across 125 countries, was published today as part of the Working Better Together: Understanding the experiences and needs of a multigenerational workforce report. The report was compiled to better understand the differing experiences of each generation in the workplace, test prevailing myths and reveal the top trends in the attitudes and experiences of three demographics: Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials.

With five different generations in the workforce today, it has become an imperative for businesses to understand the needs of different age groups. This type of intelligence is essential to help organisations improve the management of these groups, and build high-performing cultures.

Key findings in Working Better Together include: 

• Millennials – often described as a generation driven by passion and the pursuit of purpose – report being less inspired by the purpose and mission of their organisation than their peers.
• Millennials also find significantly less meaning in their work compared to older generations. Meaningful work was identified as a key driver of attrition in Peakon’s previous study, The 9-Month Warning. 
• Millennials are also least satisfied with their pay relative to other generations, with the disparity between the generations being greater with reward and compensation than any other workplace factor. In fact, only 1 in 5 are satisfied with their pay.

Contrarily, the findings are quite different for millennials’ older counterparts:

• Despite a lower engagement score during the on-boarding period, Baby Boomers emerge as the most engaged demographic in the workplace after three years of tenure, with Millennials consistently less engaged than both Boomers and Generation X.
• Boomers are notably more loyal and satisfied in comparison to their younger colleagues as well. After 3 years, Baby Boomers score higher (0.5 on 0-10 scale) when asked about their intention to stay; after two years they reach far higher satisfaction levels, peaking at five with a difference of 0.7. 
• Boomers have more faith in their organisation’s strategy and goals set by leadership than Generation X or Millennial employees.

Kasper Hulthin, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Peakon, commented: “Our data reveals that the Millennial generation – said to be driven by passion and the pursuit of meaning – actually lacks inspiration from their company’s mission and purpose. Whilst Baby Boomers emerge as the most loyal and satisfied generation, Millennials are on the cusp of surpassing them as the largest demographic in the global workforce. This is particularly concerning as, if the Millennial myth is true, businesses are yet to figure out how to tailor the workplace experience to cater to the needs of their Millennial employees – and the multigenerational workforce overall. Organisations are yet to figure out how to make work more meaningful, and provide everybody with the opportunity to do what they do best.” 

Organisations of all sizes integrate Peakon to conduct regular, employee-facing surveys to better understand their workforce. Business leaders, HR and L&D departments now have access to data-driven insights through Peakon’s people analytics software. The resulting data and insights are to help organisations understand their employees needs, cater to them to eventually build high-performing culture. 

Today, Peakon receives more than 50,000 unique employee surveys each week, providing more than 2.5 million data points each month. As a result of the ongoing surveys, many of which date back to 2015, Peakon is in a unique position to understand the full employee journey across geographies, industries, and generations.  

“Our mission at Peakon is to help companies create better workplace environments through continuous employee feedback,” said Hulthin. “We work hard at the organisational level to help companies understand the needs of their employees to improve productivity and employee retention.” 

You can download the full Working Better Together: Understanding the experiences and needs of a multigenerational workforce report today at Heartbeat by Peakon, a hub for in-depth insights about employees and the workplace to help people and companies reach their full potential.

About Peakon

Peakon’s mission is to provide insights to help everyone reach their full potential. Founded in 2014 by Kasper Hulthin (Podio – acquired by Citrix), Christian Holm (Podio), Phil Chambers (Gumtree – acquired by eBay, Qype – acquired by Yelp, Podio), and Dan Rogers (Qype, Songkick), the Peakon team has a track record of building some of the world’s most successful technology startups. To date, Peakon has helped clients such as Capgemini, Verizon, BMW, TrustPilot, and easyJet make quantifiable improvements to employee engagement, retention, and team effectiveness. Peakon is privately held with offices in Copenhagen, London and New York City. Current investors include Atomico, Balderton Capital, EQT Ventures, IDInvest Partners and Heartcore.