Starting Work
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Compensation Not Central
May 01, 2008
I’ve long collected anecdotal evidence that, while important, a high salary is not the “be-all and end-all” for members of the T-Ball Generation. Now the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education has provided some polling data that supports my conclusion.
According to the Institute, in a survey of students at 15 major business schools, students identified “challenging and diverse job responsibilities,” as the number one factor they would consider in selecting a job. Compensation came in second. Very importantly, work-life balance came in at a close third. And in fourth place, students identified the “potential to make a contribution to society.”
This is not to say that compensation is unimportant. Many of today’s new graduates will enter the workplace with huge amounts of debt. A 2006 poll of the T-Ball Generation undertaken by USA TODAY and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) found that student-loan balances rose 16% to an average of $14,379; revolving debt, including credit cards, surged 24% to $5,781; and total installment debt, including student and personal loans, rose 4% to $17,208. (Comparisons are adjusted for inflation.)
This suggests to me a new potential employee benefit that business entities might offer to attract and retain the best of the T-Ball Generation. Instead of offering large salaries, those companies that offer assistance in paying off student loans may find the T-Ball Generation beating a path to their doors.
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