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Millennials, the 18-to-34 age demographic, are a whole different breed of employees, and if we don't understand how to retain them at work, they can make or break a workforce.

That's what Deloitte's global chairman, David Cruickshank, told Business Insider over coffee at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"Millennials are a different demographic to my generation because their expectations from life and work are very different," Cruickshank said.

"In my generation, most people viewed their careers as long-term at one or two companies, but millennials are a lot more demanding in terms of themselves and expectations at work. They want the places they work for to match their values, they want to be stretched, their tolerance of things they don't agree with is pretty low, and they are certainly a lot more choosy when it comes to where they work."

Millennials make up the next generation of leaders and workers, and they are driving the world's technological transformation. They were raised in the internet era and have more skills at an earlier age when it comes to technology. In short, they have the capability to radically enhance a business, should they choose to work for you.

But in the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016, which had 7,700 respondents from 29 countries during September and October last year, two-thirds of millennials expressed a desire to leave their organisations by 2020. That is a long-term issue for retaining talent.

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APTalent retention is acute at Deloitte because, as one of the largest four accountancies in the world, it has more than 225,400 employees in more than 150 countries, and it takes on a massive slice of graduates each year.

"We take on 62-63,000 graduates a year, and they represent a huge part of our workforce," Cruickshank said. "So if we don't understand them, we'd have a lot of empty shelves, so to say.

"Any business that is dependent on human capital or technology, and actually some parts of financial services, could be adversely affected by this. Millennials want a happy life, a partner, decent income, a lot of freedom, and high job satisfaction. They are demanding."

The survey showed that seven in 10 believe their personal values are not shared by the organisations for which they work, so there is an absence of loyalty among millennials.

A cynic might say millennials are spoiled brats and difficult to keep happy, and companies can do little to retain them.

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