Negotiating your salary Why are millennials holding back?

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Full disclosure: I did not negotiate for my salary. From where I was standing, the security of full-time employment alone was incentive enough to leave the freelance life, especially after turning 26 and having to finally get my own health care.I wasn’t alone, either.

According to a study at NerdWallet, 62 percent of college graduates aren’t negotiating their salaries during job interviews.

Considering the conditions of the job market upon graduation, I’m a little surprised the number of people who negotiate (38 percent) is so high. In a 2014 study, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said, “The decisions millennials make now in the aftermath of the recession’s effects can reverberate for years.” We’re having an impact in the all the places you might think to look initially (fashion, technology, politics), but, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said, “One area where they’re facing challenges in leaving their mark, however, is the economy.”

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Even as the economy began to recover, finding a job was still a particular challenge for millennials.

The 2014 study shows that the employment gap between millennials and their older counterparts is wider than the correlative age groups half a decade ago, in 2009. This suggests the recovery hasn’t reached younger workers the way others have in the past. According to census data, only 63 percent of millennials are working, which is a 7 percentage point drop from the 70 percent of 18- to 31-year-olds who were employed in 1990.

Some economists have said these issues will affect millennials for decades, as millennials who graduated during the recession took a bigger earnings hit.

If you’re busying occupying your mind with those kinds of thoughts, it’s no wonder we negotiate like Albert Brooks in “Defending Your Life”:



According to the study, negotiating is exactly what we should be doing: 90 percent of employers have never retracted a job offer because an applicant negotiated on salary; 74 percent of employers have the room to increase the offered salary by 5 to 10 percent; and 80 percent of entry-level workers who negotiated were at least somewhat successful.

The next time you’re applying for work, don’t be afraid to ask for a little extra. Or businesses could start following Reddit’s lead and get rid of the negotiation process entirely.

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