The below is a roadmap to understanding the Millennials (as a generation, consumers, students, entrepreneurs, employees and leaders) depicted in 22 shocking statistics. May this serve as your roadmap as you chart new territories with today’s largest generation. Venture on.
The Millennial Generation
(1) Approximately 10,000 Millennials turn 21 everyday in America. [TIME] The Millennials are the largest generation on our planet. As the Baby Boomers taught us, the larger the generation, the greater the influence over norms, expectations and behavior. With the Millennials comes mega change…
The Millennial Consumer
(2) By 2018, Millennials will have the most spending power of any generation. [Bazaar]
(3) Their annual spend in 2015 is expected to be $2.45 trillion and by 2018, they will eclipse Boomers in spending power at $3.39 trillion. [Oracle]
Mobile commerce will be a huge contributing factor to the 3.39 trillion as (4) 41% of Millennials have already made purchases with their smartphones. [Edelman Digital] If your website, product or service is not mobile ready…good riddance.
(5) 48% of Millennials say that word-of-mouth affects their buying decisions more than TV ads. Only 17% reported that a TV ad led them to make a purchase. [Intrepid] And where do you think they get this word-of-mouth influence? Social media, of course. (6) 63% keep up with brands through social networks. [Ipsos] Additionally, (7) 43% have liked over 20 brands on Facebook. [Mr Youth]. Having a presence on social media is essential to attract Millennial spending.
The Millennial Student
(8) Millennials are the most educated generation in American history with over 63% of Millennials having a Bachelor’s Degree. [Millennial Branding] How will you stand out in today’s over crowded talent pool.
(9) 50% of Millennial college students say they don’t need a physical classroom. (10) 53% believe that online colleges are reputable. And (11) 39% view the future of education as being more virtual. [Millennial Branding] Eventually how can you expect them to need or want a physical workplace?
The Millennial Entrepreneur
(12) 90% of Millennials surveyed think being an entrepreneur means having a certain mindset rather than starting a company. [Odesk]
(13) 54% either want to start a business or already have started one. [Kauffman Foundation]
(14) 21% of freelancers are still enrolled at a university. [Odesk]
Millennial side hustle.
The Millennial Employee
(15) By 2025, 3 out of every 4 workers globally will be Millennials. [Time]
Currently there are 40 million Millennials in the workplace.
(16) 89% of Millennials would prefer to choose when and where they work rather than being placed in a 9-to-5 position. [Odesk] And (17) 45% of Millennials will choose workplace flexibility over pay. [Millennial Branding]
(18) 56% of Millennials won’t accept jobs from companies that ban social media. [Cisco]
(19) Average tenure for Millennials is 2 years (compared to 5 years for Gen X and 7 years for Baby Boomers.) [Pay Scale / Millennial Branding]
(20) It costs an average of $24,000 to replace each Millennial employee. [Microsoft / Experience Inc]
Either promote them fast or give them options to gain more transferable skills – otherwise they will
The Millennial Leader
(21) 63.3% of U.S. executives will be eligible to retire in the next 5 years. [PWC]
(If that stat is half right, that still leaves a large leadership gap that will have to be filled by Millennials. Will they be ready?)
(22) In the last 5 years: 87% of Millennial workers took on management roles, vs 38% of GenX & just 19% of Boomers. [EY]
Question: What statistic do you find most shocking?