Millennials in public finance see a lot of value in mentorship from their older colleagues and are hopeful about the future of the industry despite a generational divide that can occasionally put them at odds with industry veterans when it comes to technology and building business relationships.
These findings stem from a Bond Buyer survey of more than 200 industry professionals that included senior executives and law firm partners all the way down to junior analysts. The results paint a portrait revealing how millennials and older muni professionals view the business and their personal paths forward in it.
On a scale of one through five with five being most important and one being least important, nearly 50% of respondents under 40 years old cited having a mentor as being either a four or a five. A substantially smaller number, about 23%, rated mentorship's importance as either a one or a two. About 48% of millennial respondents said they did not have mentors, and more than 66% reported that their companies had no formal mentorship program in place. When millennials whose employers did have a formal mentorship program in place were asked to rate its success, nearly three-quarters said the programs were either "very successful" or "somewhat successful."
When asked about factors that had made advancing in their careers difficult, 43% of millennial respondents said the lack of a mentorship program had either been "very challenging" or "somewhat challenging," with the remainder saying it was "not very" or "not at all" challenging making do without such a program.
Young people generally described themselves as eager to learn and develop in the muni industry. More than 83% of millennials said that training, personal learning and development was either an essential or a high priority over the next five years. Millennials cite many of the same motivations for pursuing municipal finance careers that are often heard from leading members of the industry, and about 41% of millennials surveyed said they planned to work in public finance for 15 or more years.
"We have a real opportunity to be forward-thinking about how to best solve governmental fiscal and funding challenges," said one survey respondent.
Other participants cited the satisfaction of doing work that benefits communities, the opportunity to gain expertise in a more specialized area of the financial industry, and the likable people that populate the muni industry.
Another had an even simpler reason for working in the industry. "This is where my passion lies."
But the survey also revealed that tensions definitely exist between younger and older professionals working in the muni market, with millennials feeling the divide more keenly and women sensing it more than men. Only about 18% of older muni professionals said they thought there were tensions between workers in their age group and the younger generation, while about 67% said they didn't think there were tensions. The remainder said they didn't know. Among those older professionals who said there was tension, their responses frequently cited a perceived lack of patience and interpersonal skills among the younger crowd.
"Sense of entitlement and privilege with corresponding lack of work ethic is absurd," one older muni professional said. "Younger professionals don't work as hard but want the same respect that others who have worked hard for years get," said another.
When asked about the challenges of working with younger employees, a difference in communication style was a frequent perceived culprit. One older respondent said that millennials are "more inclined to use technology rather than pick up the phone or walk down the hall." A perceived lack of work ethic among younger workers was also present among older survey takers, with one noting that it seemed younger employees always wanted to "hit the door at five."
About 29% of younger survey takers said they thought there were tensions between their age group and older employees, while about 46% said they didn't think so and the remainder said they didn't know. But while only 20% of younger male industry workers said they thought there was tension, 46% of younger women said there was.
Millennials who said there were tensions tended to mention that their older coworkers either didn't trust them or expected too much of them for too little reward.
"Older people have trouble trusting younger people," one survey taker said.
"Old people had to work the same hours for more pay so expect analysts today to do the same," another said. "But the money isn't there anymore so analysts want out."
One respondent said millennials are sometimes seen as "lazy" rather than being simply more efficient.
"The older professionals seem to think us younger professionals are lazy simply because we are quicker at our jobs than they are."
But many among both millennials and older employees said that they could learn from the other group, and many of the older respondents lamented that they struggled to attract and retain new young talent due to compensation and flex time issues. About 48% of millennial survey takers said that increasing their salaries was an "essential" priority over the next five years, while some 64% said a salary increase would be one reason they'd consider jumping ship to another employer. More than 30% of millennials said a lack of flex time had been either "somewhat" or "very" challenging in advancing their careers.
"I would love to hire some young people if I felt there would be a path for them," one more senior survey taker said. "Always happy to make a referral to a commercial bank or investment banking firm where an internal career path change into another area of finance may be available, in case the muni option contracts or shut down."
One older respondent described how millennials and older professionals could benefit from one another.
"I remember things they have never heard of or experienced so it is an education for them," the respondent said. "On the flip side they tend to be a bit more technologically advanced, which I can certainly learn and benefit from. We always make it a joke, even when my shoes are older than some of them."
