How to Appeal to Millennials: Offer Pet Benefits!

The millennial generation currently makes up around 35% of the work force. They’re the most well-represented generation among workers today and could make up 75% of the work force by the mid-2020’s. How does one attract this tech savvy group to their bank? Millennials have some unique demands of potential employers.

Often delaying child-rearing, millennials instead focus on their pets.  Benefits that aid in pet ownership are very attractive to their demographic.  Examples include offering pet health insurance in addition to the usual suite of insurance and providing for “furternity leave” alongside the usual maternity leave.  Pet health insurance is currently offered by a third of Fortune 500 companies. Meant for helping with unexpected medical needs, pet health insurance is a boon to a generation of people who struggle to maintain adequate savings.  Furternity leave is for employees to take time off to acclimate a new pet to its environment and owners during the critical first week of ownership.  It usually isn’t time off, however, and is instead about granting them time to work from home.

Millennials also prefer non-traditional workspaces.  The idea of “third space” for working, the first two spaces being one’s home and the office, has been gaining traction. Third space is often a café, but lately has been incorporated into offices.  This is done by creating more open areas furnished with couches and counters as opposed to the typical work desk or cubicle; an area where impromptu meetings can be held in a relaxed atmosphere.  Bringing this all together, it can even be an ideal place to allow employees to bring their pets on a limited basis.

It’s important to remain competitive in the marketplace, and this includes not allowing your staff to stagnate. By adding some unique benefits and redesigning your facilities you can bring in this influential generation of workers. 


Related Articles:

"Recruiting Millennials into the Banking Industry" published 8/17/2017