The m-word.

It seems you can’t turn on the television, log in to Facebook, or even read a blog — including this one — without seeing some new story about millennials. There’s a reason why. By the year 2025, millennials will comprise 75 percent of the workforce. And if your clients aren’t prepared, they could face disastrous consequences.

Attracting millennial talent

Millennials are much more likely to work for a company they feel cares about them. In fact, nearly 60 percent of millennials say it’s critical for an employer to support their well-being — financially, socially, and physically.

Identity protection can help safeguard all three: by providing an identity theft insurance policy to cover lost wages and other expenses associated with identity recovery; by protecting the privacy of a millennial’s spouse and children; and by helping to keep medical data secure by reporting any detected irregularities.

Millennials fully understand the risk identity theft poses to their well-being, as evidenced by a recent poll that found most Americans now rank criminal hacking as the number one threat to their health, safety, and prosperity. Even though millennials grew up with the internet, it doesn’t translate to better security savvy — millennials are less likely to use complex passwords and more likely to reuse their passwords. So they need plenty of protection, perhaps even more than other generations.

HR professionals are also taking notice of what employees look for when it comes to desirable benefits. For this reason, nearly 70 percent of HR executives say identity protection benefits are growing in importance.

Retaining millennial talent

There’s overwhelming data that shows that retaining millennials is challenging:

  • 60 percent of millennials are open to a new job

  • 50 percent intend to leave their current employer within a year

  • Nearly 25 percent have changed jobs within the past 12 months

  • Three out of five millennials say they’ve switched jobs between one and four times within the past five years

  • An astonishing 66 percent say they will be leaving their job regardless of what the economy is like by 2020

The numbers can be intimidating, but there are actions your clients can take to protect themselves. Offering great benefits like identity protection is a great place to start. A 2015 Glassdoor survey found that nearly 80 percent of employees would prefer new or additional benefits more than a pay raise. And around 90 percent of millennials agree that benefits are more important than salary. This is especially true when it comes to attracting and retaining millennial talent. Many organizations are struggling to adapt to the times, but the good news is they can overcome these challenges. And the even better news is you can help them.

Selecting the right benefit

So, which benefit is best?

According to BenefitsPro, identity protection is at the top of the list. The publication named identity protection the number one voluntary benefit of 2018 and one of the “hottest employee benefits” to help organizations attract, retain, and engage top talent. In case you need more proof, Forbes and Bloomberg both agree.