I can confirm that these findings are pretty normal for people in my demographic (mid-20s to mid-30s). I have consulted for several Federal Government agencies in the past decade on this topic and the numbers aren’t shifting. Some employers thought that the dot com era was a game changer but nothing’s changed in the post-dot com era.

Young employees want flexibility and growth opportunities. I don’t know why employers can’t figure this out. When I was last employed, I worked for a branch of the BC Government. I negotiated flex time as part of my accepting the job because I was finishing the tail-end of my Masters degree and needed one afternoon a week off to go to class.

My boss, who wasn’t significantly older than me, was fine with that. However, part way through my first year, the union got wind of this arrangement and since I was technically a union employee, they tried to take away my flex time because it wasn’t been offered universally to every union employee.

That, combined with a number of other pain in the ass incidents, caused me to leave their organization. I just got a call from this organization today and they want me to do some consulting work for them. Irony!