Costs increasing for training, replacing millennia's.

• Position: HUMAN RESOURCES - Millennial Branding - Survey

Results from a comprehensive national survey find that 87 percent of companies report costs between $15,000 and $25,000 to replace each millennial employee they lose.

Considering that approximately 40 percent of companies currently employ 50 or more millennial workers, these costs are expected to rise dramatically in the future. With current data showing more than 60 percent of millennials leaving companies in less than three years, employers are facing an expensive revolving door.

The survey, The Cost of Millennial Retention, which includes responses from hundreds of human resources professionals in various industries, was conducted by Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm, and Beyond.com, a career network focused on helping people grow and succeed professionally.

Projections show that by 2014 millennials will account for 36 percent of the American workforce, a number that in 2025 balloons to 75 percent of the global workplace. Recent reports show that 45 percent of companies experience high turnover with those employees identified as millennials by a two-to-one margin versus older generations.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

RELATED ARTICLE: Of the HR professionals responding to the survey, 79 percent say they are optimistic they will be able to increase their millennial employee retention rate, with many citing they cannot afford not to. Among highlights from the survey:

Companies Losing Millennial Talent. Of those surveyed, 30 percent of companies have lost 15 percent or more of their millennial employees in the past year, and most feel that at least 10 percent of the lost employees went directly to competitors.

Costs to Retain Millennials. Fifty-one percent of respondents report that the cost of training and development is the highest when hiring millennials; interviewing, job posting/advertising and on-boarding were cited as the next highest costs (in that order). Seventy-one percent say losing millennials increases the workload and stress of current employees; and 56 percent note it takes between three and seven weeks to hire a fully...