I would also agree that generational differences are the issue…but that doesn’t really help answer the question. To me, that is like saying the younger people use computers more than older people due to generational differences. Then pull any example you want, and you stated the reason “genreational differences” and proven it “story.”

That is what is done here: Reason: generational differences. Story: 50 year olds have a hard time getting hired.

Ummm…call me crazy, or something, but when I was 20 or 25, I did not worry about my job future at 55. Really, not a concern. And, I can not recall any friend / relative who had those concerns at that age.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the response of generational differences seems like a cop-out to the real question–how do we retain young employees. Instead of providing any strategies or ideas about how to do this–the answer is “you can’t–just accept it and make strategies around it.”

To me–people leave for a variety of reasons–the last one among those in my opinion is because some college counselor told me to. It is usually money, stagnation at a certain job, boredom, office culture, etc. All of these issues can be address AND all of these issues are a part of generational differences.

The short answer is, pay them what they’re worth, provide benefits, give them the ability to be promoted within a reasonable time frame, don’t increase their job responsibilities and work load without a proportional amount of either financial or benefit-based recompense, and treat them with trust and respect rather than suspicion and derision. More than anything, do not resort to punitive means that automatically assume employees are out to shirk responsibility, slack off, and generally waste time. Instead, take the time to weed out the bad apples.

Wha? “Generational differences?” How about differences in the way corporations operate? Our whole friggin economy? Globalization, anyone? Yes, there are some companies that do a better job of retaining employees, but you’d have to be pretty weird to think, that the “retail chain” you work at today at 22 - is going to be the retail chain you’re working at in five, ten or 15 years. Better to leave of your own volition.

In addition to that, there is an overall culture of people not staying in one place. This is like asking, “Why don’t people live in the same house they bought when they first got married?” We live in a time of upgrades: today you can upgrade your car, your furniture, your degree, your house, your spouse (!), and yes, your job.

His response might be a cop-out. So might mine. You all suggest good ways of keeping people around.

I would add that part of what I mean with generational differences is not that people are so different from generation to generation but that Generation Y, and X have fundamentally different experiences in the workplace than Baby Boomers do (or did in their twenties) because of much larger workplace trends (how corporations and other sorts of enterprises operate, among other trends).