Attracting and retaining millennials: The contribution of corporate real estate

  • Author:
  • Year: 2017

The overall workforce is declining and the composition of the workforce is shifting. This shift within the workforce is caused by the upcoming generation of millennials (generation with a birth cohort from 1980 to 1998). Organisations value their employees as one of their key assets and continuously seek for the best potential talent. In order to attract and retain talented millennials, the work environment has to support the needs of this generation. Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) is concerned with creating a workplace that supports the needs of employees and thus also has a role in this study. However, little is known about the relation between the needs of millennials and the possible support by CREM.

The available literature about the needs of millennials, and the possible support of those needs by CREM to attract and retain them, is limited. Most studies only focus on the physical aspects of the workplace in general or only on the characteristics and needs of millennials. Research about the relation between those two subjects is very limited. Besides, studies that focus on the millennial generation and their needs and characteristics, show inconsistencies and contradictions. Also, most of those studies are written by consultants and do not have an academic background. This study tries to cover that gap in literature. To be able to contribute to attracting and retaining millennials, it should be clear which physical workplace aspects CREM should manage in order to create a work environment that supports the needs of millennials. The objective of this research is to provide CREM with insight in how to attract and retain millennials. The research question that follows from this objective, is: Which physical workplace aspects contribute to attracting and retaining millennials?