FACTORS INFLUENCING RETENTION OF MILLENNIAL EMPLOYEES IN 4.0 ORGANIZATIONS.

Abstract

The necessary shift from the digital revolution (3rd Industrial Revolution) to an innovation-based mix of technologies (4th Industrial Revolution) has forced organizations to re-examine the way they execute business. Millennial generation employees drive this shift. Millennial is the generation that was born between1981 – 2000 and lived in the period of the information technology revolution with exposure to the internet and smartphones. The millennial has become a crucial element for human resources to driveindustry 4.0. The millennial workforce are the children of the Baby Boomers, they comprise a major part of the global workforce and are expected to reach 75% by 2025 due to the retirement of baby boomers. They are a more confident, goal-oriented, innovative, optimistic, tech-savvy, and multitasking workforce. However,they are known for their job-hopping tendency as they have a different attitude towards their career than the previous workforce. According to the past research in the area, 60% of the millennial workforce leave their employer within three years. This means a huge cost to replace and train new employees. Retaining the millennial workforce has emerged as a critical concern for human resource professionals in 4.0 organizations. They need more constructive retention strategies to retain this eminent workforce. The purpose of this study is to determine the key attributes of retention of the millennial workforce and provide suggestions on retention strategies through the review of literature in the area. For this study, 44 research papers were reviewed to collect relevant data. This study revealed that work-life balance, career development opportunities, meaningful work, continuous feedback&recognition, competitive compensation and benefits, work-engagement, and relationship with colleagues and superiors were the key attributes for the retention of the millennial workforce in 4.0 organizations. It implies that organizations need to redesign retention strategies based on the leading key attributes.