Why Our Adult Children Are Job Hoppers

By April 15, many of our adult children achieved at least one marker of adulthood — filing a tax return. But if they're like many of their contemporaries, they may not be employed at the same place when the next tax season rolls around.

More than two-thirds of young professionals expect to quit their current job by 2020, according to Deloitte's 2016 Millennial Survey. They say they'll leave in search of companies whose goals fit better with their own. But millennial workforce expert J.T. O'Donnell, founder of CareerHMO.com, says their reasons often go beyond that.

O'Donnell believes millennials are searching for new positions out of frustration based on unrealistic expectations about the nature of work — and she blames their upbringing. "They've been supported by parents who believed their children could be anything they wanted to be and were happy to get them coaching to achieve that," she says. "They come into the working world thinking 'I can take on anything' and then are faced with the reality that there are millions their age with the same degree. Turns out they're not so different and not so special."

The result: Young employees who experience difficulty and criticism, perhaps for the first time, often blame the boss or the business environment rather than admit that their expectations were unrealistic. "Many would rather move than work it through," O'Donnell says. Because many millennials live at home until their mid-20s, jumping jobs is easier because of their parental safety net.

To be fair, there are other reasons, too. Some millennials are still searching for a good career match, something previous generations also experienced in their 20s. Many don't believe in loyalty to one company because they saw their parents downsized after decades at the same place. They're also finding new opportunities, with technology constantly creating jobs that didn't exist even a few years ago. Finally, sometimes companies in "glamour" industries such as tech, media and fashion exploit them. "They are lured by these sexy companies with lots of perks but low pay, long hours," O'Donnell says. "Then they get burned out and leave. The companies don't worry because there's a steady supply of millennials who will take those jobs."