Engaging Millennials in the Workforce

Posted on: July 20, 2016 at 1:13 PM by New Benefits Blog

While reading the latest issue of Benefitspro Magazine, I stumbled upon an intriguing statistic: “More than 1 in 3 American workers today are millennials (adults ages 18 to 34), and they have officially surpassed Generation X to become the largest segment of the American workforce.”[1]

The article goes on to discuss how this group expects to receive information. For millennials, it’s all about instant gratification. They want access at their fingertips – online and on their mobile devices. Millennials want to be connected with everything – just look at the way they “connect” to friends, companies, and brands through social media.

ThinkstockPhotos-472848510There’s a lesson here for the insurance industry:  In order to reach this generation, we need to engage them with technology and, you guessed it, mobile apps. The good news is several employee benefit apps already exist. It’s our job as consultants to make employees aware of these apps and when to use them.

Top Five Benefit Mobile Apps for Millennials

  1. Acute care: Although millennials may feel invincible, they still get sick. Most telehealth providers offer a mobile app to access physicians 24/7. Employees can reach doctors anytime, anywhere – even on weekends and late at night. It’s perfect for millennials who are constantly on the go and don’t want to be held up by a cough, cold, or flu.
  2. Healthcare advice: Many millennials are new to the workforce and don’t understand insurance. Health advocacy mobile apps provide a place to call for questions related to benefits, insurance, doctors, treatments, and more.
  3. Health questions: Everyone has health questions, like how to sleep better or how to treat a bug bite. Millennials turn to Google for answers, but the sources can rarely be trusted. Instead, they could be using an app like eDocAmerica to consult with a medical team via messaging on the app.
  4. Healthcare costs: Since millennials may not have paid for medical services before, a price transparency tool is paramount to show them the vast difference in cost among various providers. Employees will not only save money, but also learn to make educated healthcare decisions.
  5. Food, travel, and events: Millennials are big on experiences. Beyond health benefits, employers can provide discount apps to help employees save on restaurants, concerts, excursions, and travel.

New technologies and solutions are launched so quickly it is often hard to keep up. As an industry, we need to recognize how millennials want to receive information, embrace these changes, and incorporate these technologies into our own businesses. Mobile apps will continue to increase in popularity, and if the insurance industry doesn’t get on board, we’ll be left behind. According to a recent Barclays study, 6 out of 10 employees rate a comprehensive benefit package as a high priority when looking for a new job. So the more you can diversify your offerings and appeal to more audiences, the better.

Brian Latkowski--Brian Latkowski, EVP

Copyright © 2016 by New Benefits, Ltd.  All rights reserved.

[1] Pew Research Center, “Millennials surpass Gen Xers as the largest population in U.S. labor force,” Richard Fry, May 11, 2015