The Real Reason You Should Hire Millennial Talent

According to the Pew Research Center, there are more than 75 million millennials in the U.S. today — and employers are apparently disgusted with every single one of them. Born between 1980 and 1999, millennials are often pigeonholed by employers as unreliable, entitled, and untested. Their multiple tattoos and selfie-cluttered social media accounts seem to reveal a narcissism and self-obsession that did not exist in generations past.

But that isn’t always true.

Companies are always looking for hot, young talent. If you’re a business owner, then “hot, young talent” today means “millennials.” Look for the qualities that count in this generation, and you may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Student Debt: the Millennials Really Need Work

Necessity can be an excellent motivator, and for most millennials, finding decent work is of immediate importance. The average millennial  who graduated from a four-year, nonprofit college or university in the summer of 2014 took with them a diploma, a lifetime of memories, and $28,400 in debt. This number is several hundred dollars higher than it was in 2013, and $10,000 higher than it was a decade ago. Paying off an accumulated 1.3 trillion dollars, more than 30 percent of millennials pay $300 a month toward their student loans, and 5 percent pay more than $1,000 a month.

Smart employers leverage the best work of new hires any way they can, and members  of this indebted generation hand over all the leverage in the world the moment they walk through the door.

Millennials Are Tech-Savvy Multitaskers

Millennials are the first generation in American history to grow up with computers and Internet access readily available. The common perception is that this has made millennials Internet-addicted and technology-dependent. The more likely reality, however, is that they are Internet-savvy and technology-proficient, which makes them more competent and easier to train. It also means that they actually posses a valuable skill that job seekers have been writing on their resumes for decades just because it sounds good: the ability to multitask.

After all, millennials are the first generation in history whose behavior led to laws banning texting while driving  (no one had to tell your dad to pull over if he needed to type a letter on the Smith-Corona typewriter he kept on the passenger seat just in case).

The Coca-Cola Company, which has a long, storied corporate culture of exploiting (in a good way) young talent, recently drew attention to a report  about millennials and technology. The report revealed that millennials were the first generation to be “on the cutting edge of technology,” especially mobile technology, even when their jobs had nothing to do with tech.

Millennials Are the Most Diverse Generation in History

Just 57 percent  of millennials are non-Hispanic whites, which is 15 percent less than the baby boomers. In a shrinking world and globalized economy — not to mention an America where minorities are playing increasing roles in domestic politics — the very ethnic differences that once stood as barriers to employment can now serve to push one candidate ahead of another, all other things being equal.

Millennials are much less likely to be married, to be religious, or to identify with a political party than their parents were. Because of these things, people often brand millennials as selfish or apathetic. However, the reality may be that since their lives — from cradle to job interview — have been lived under an unprecedented and perpetual bombardment of information, the millennials have become prematurely enlightened.

It might even have made them better employees — if you can just get past the tattoos.

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This article originally appeared on BusinessCollective.

Marcela De Vivo is the CMO of National Debt Relief, the country’s largest debt consolidation and settlement company. Her goal is to create awareness about the options available for people to get out of debt and restore financial freedom and stability. She loves going for long walks with her dogs Lucas and Lola and travelling all over the world.