By 2015, those born between 1981 and 1999 will account for 35% of the total U.S. workforce, according to the Department of Labor statistics compiled by the Wall Street Journal.

While the number of millennial employees is expected grow by an additional 20 million over the next 10 years, a survey conducted by freelance employment agency Elance-oDesk and Boston-based ad agency Millennial Branding suggests hiring managers are finding it difficult to recruit and retain young employees.

Based on this latest research, CU Times outlined four ways credit unions can attract and retain the much-needed young talent they need for growth.

1. Align Priorities

The Elance-oDesk survey, which interviewed 200 hiring managers and more than 1,000 millennials, found a big disconnect between perception and reality of millennial workplace priorities.

For example, the survey showed that 75% of hiring managers thought a job's earnings potential was a priority among millennials. But only 44% of young employees agreed with that notion. And while only 12% of hiring managers thought co-workers would be a priority, 39% of millennials said co-workers were a priority.

Twenty-five percent of young employees said a good manager or coach would be a priority for them but just 16% of hiring managers thought that would be important for up-and-comers, according to the survey.

“Millennials are typically eager for mentorship. They are smart and recognize that working with inspiring colleagues will pay dividends in the long run,” Shoshana Duetschkron, Elance-oDesk's director of communications, said. “I think many millennials focus on people and experiences over materials things, which is part of the reason for the growing popularity of the sharing economy.”

What may help managers retain young employees is to pay attention to their strengths and find ways to develop them, according to Elance-oDesk, a Mountain View, Calif.-based online workplace for freelancers and businesses. And, the firm said, take the time to connect with young team members by scheduling lunch or coffee outside of the office.

Moreover, managers may also foster professional growth by sharing their own career experiences and cultivate a culture that values fresh ideas that the generation of digital natives can offer.

2. Value Independence and Flexibility

Jaleh Bisharat, senior vice president of marketing for Elance-oDesk, noted that millennials are reinventing what it means to be successful in a technology-driven world where workdays are infinite, needs change on a dime and independence and flexibility are at a premium.

By allowing more flexibility in the workplace, millennials may be more inclined to stay. The Elance-oDesk survey found 79% of young employees said they would consider quitting their jobs to become freelancers as they feel it gives them the flexibility and control of independent work.

About 66% of millennials value flexible working times and 53% said they valued the opportunity to choose their work projects or interesting work, according to the survey. Forty-four percent said they want to control their own destiny at work, while another 43% want more control over their workload, and the same percentage said they want no part of office politics.

“I think that companies themselves are having to become more flexible and will need to empower their employees to have more control,” Bisharat said. “They'll also need to innovate their approaches to building teams and tap into freelancers in order to access millennials with the hard-to-find skills they need.”

Earlier this year, a separate report compiled by Elance-ODesk found that 34% of the nation's workforce, or about 53 million Americans, are now working as freelancers or temps.

3. Go Mobile

You can't go a day without seeing someone with his or her face practically glued to a mobile phone. And some people, particularly millennials, are using their mobile devices to search for new jobs.

A study by Chicago-based online jobs site CareerBuilder reported mobile job searches are accelerating. More than 9.3 million workers searched for jobs via mobile devices in March 2013, up from just 2.3 million in March 2012. Google's data also shows that 31% of job searches originate from mobile devices, according to the study.

Interestingly, however, only 99 of the Fortune 500 companies operate a mobile career site to search for jobs. And only 14 of those world-leading firms have a mobile-optimized process to apply for jobs.

Among the Fortune 500 finance and insurance companies, fewer than 20% have a mobile jobs site and fewer than 3% have a mobile job application process. Among the top 100 staffing firms, only 30% operate a mobile jobs site and 28% have an optimized mobile jobs application process.

“Mobile and tablet users expect to see jobs information in a visual way that reflects the visual approach of the overall Web,” Hope Gurion, chief product officer for CareerBuilder, said. “This is especially critical in a time when mobile job search is exploding and companies are missing out on talent because they're not mobile-optimized.”

CareerBuilder offered five tips to build a well-designed career site. First, incorporate geo-targeting capabilities to help candidates quickly find the most relevant, local opportunities based on their phones' GPS. Keep the application process brief and as simple as possible. Research shows job candidates are more likely to abandon an application process the more laborious it is.

In addition, emphasize images over words, CareerBuilder said. Content should be condensed into sections that highlight the most relevant information. The site should be built for touch screens, and larger buttons and drop-down menus make the navigations process faster and easier, according to CareerBuilder.

Finally, mobile jobs sites should be updated to keep pace with technology changes, data updates and user feedback.

4. Don't Be Antisocial (Media)

Through its surveys, Jobvite, a social recruiting company in San Mateo, Calif., found four in 10 people find jobs through their personal connections while 60% of recruiters find their best candidates come from referrals.

However, young people are apparently finding out about new jobs through their personal connections on social media, particularly Facebook.

Among the 1,303 job seekers that participated in the Jobvite survey, 76% of them found their current position through Facebook. Seventy percent of people that searched for jobs on the social media site were between the ages of 19 and 39.

The survey also revealed that 94% of company recruiters are searching for candidates on LinkedIn, but only 36% of job seekers are looking for their next job on that site. And, 65% of recruiters are searching for candidates on Facebook.

Nonetheless, Jobvite's Social Recruiting Survey found that recruiters recognize the importance of taking a multi-channel approach and plan to increase investment in a range of recruiting tactics, including social media, referrals, corporate career sites and direct sourcing.

“Companies today are fighting in a war for the best talent, which is forcing recruiters to seek new avenues for engagement,” Jobvite CEO Dan Finnigan said. “Unlike previous years' studies, recruiters today have a variety of weapons in their arsenal, from mobile and social to referrals and beyond, and they're taking a multi-channel approach to find and hire talent. For the modern recruiter, the process starts long before the application and demands a growing pipeline of talent that can be nourished and tapped into at any time.”

Moreover, what may help credit unions keep their young talent is how they use social media not just to engage with members but with employees as well.

According to one study, employees at companies that are socially engaged are more likely to feel optimistic about the future of their companies and are more likely to stay.

The study was conducted by the Altimeter Group, a research and consulting firm. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company looked at the Top 25 socially engaged companies, which means they successfully leverage social media to improve their relationships with customers and employees. Some of those businesses are MasterCard, Gartner, Salesforce.com, LinkedIn, TeraData, Visa and Cisco.

“Social media helps create emotional connections with consumers and employees,” according to the study's report. “Relationship economics not only contribute to emotional benefits but also are the transactional foundation for word-of-mouth marketing, which fuels business referrals and recruitment for top talent.”

Instant Insights /

4 Ways to Attract Top Millennial Talent

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