It is often said that youth is wasted on the young. Many twentysomethings are taking that on board — and are taking action by leaving corporate life while they still can.

人们常说年轻人在浪费青春。很多20几岁的年轻人正接受这一观点，而且在采取行动，在他们还能改行的时候走人。

In recent months the lack of loyalty among millennial staff has been causing headaches to employers, with the financial sector in particular facing an increasing number of deserters. According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 44 per cent of millennials are looking to leave their jobs within the next two years, while a whopping 66 per cent expect to be gone within five.

最近几个月，千禧一代员工欠缺忠诚度的问题令雇主头疼，特别是金融业的跳槽者越来越多。根据德勤(Deloitte)最近的一项调查，44%的千禧一代员工正考虑在未来两年跳槽，同时高达66%预计在5年内跳槽。

Are millennials simply entitled whingers, so used to a lifetime of excessive praise that they expect high pay and high-profile work from their first day in the office? Or is the problem more fundamental: are these young people simply motivated by different concerns?

千禧一代是否是被宠坏的愤青，如此习惯于过度的赞美，以至于他们在入职第一天就期望得到高工资和出人头地的工作？抑或问题在于更为根本的层面：这些年轻人是否受到其他考量的激励？

I recently left my role at an investment bank, and fellow graduates working in finance have been supportive — many have told me they also have a strong desire to leave in the near future. No one expects to remain in their job long-term.

我最近从一家投行离职，在金融业工作的同龄毕业生支持我，很多人告诉我，他们强烈希望在近期离职。没有人希望在自己的岗位上长期做下去。

So what can be done to halt the exodus of millennials from the corporate world?

因此，要阻止千禧一代跳槽，我们能做什么？

One problem is that many companies are the victims of their own recruiting success. This slick process was expertly skewered by the late Marina Keegan, then a Yale student, in her 2011 essay “Even artichokes have doubts”. As Keegan put it: “I’m not special. Their team of recruiters is really good. They come at Yale with a myriad of other consultant firms and banks and sell themselves shamelessly and brilliantly to us from the time we turn twenty.”

问题之一是，很多公司是它们自己招聘成功的受害者。英年早逝的耶鲁大学(Yale)学生玛丽娜•基根(Marina Keegan)在她2011年的文章《连洋蓟也有疑问》(Even artichokes have doubts)中，对这种华而不实的招聘过程进行了精辟的刻画。正如基根所言：“我并不特别。他们的招聘者团队确实优秀。从我们20岁开始，他们就与其他各家咨询机构和银行一起涌来耶鲁，无耻但高明地推销他们自己。”

This seamless recruitment has led many graduates who had never heard of discounted cash-flows or credit derivatives to glide into a job in the sector. Unsurprisingly, many of these young employees soon decide to move on to roles more suited to their interests.

这种无缝的招聘让很多之前从未听说过折现现金流或信贷衍生品的毕业生获得金融行业的工作。毫不意外的是，其中很多年轻员工很快就决定跳槽到更切合自己兴趣的工作。

There is more to this exodus than simple mismatching. The drudgery of entry-level jobs within professional services is well documented. Hours are spent grinding away in front of Excel and PowerPoint. A combination of routine tasks and high pressure leads to demoralised juniors. While this has long been the case, what has changed is the loss of the finance industry’s two great pull-factors: prestige and wealth. Since the 2008 crisis, the envy that a City or Wall Street job once inspired among peers has been replaced with opprobrium and judgment.

除了专业不对口，这种跳槽还说明更多问题。专业服务机构入门级工作的单调辛苦已经出了名。新员工每天要在Excel和PowerPoint前面熬过好几个小时。单调任务和巨大压力导致初级员工士气低落。尽管这一点长期如此，但变化是金融业丧失了两个重要吸引力：声望和财富。自2008年金融危机以来，伦敦金融城和华尔街工作激励人们的那种同辈间的羡慕，已被抨击和评判取代。

In their place, Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Facebook capture the hearts of ambitious graduates. It is hard to stay motivated when, in the eyes of much of society, you are a parasite or even a “vampire squid”.

谷歌(Google)和Facebook等硅谷公司赢得了志向远大的毕业生的心。如果在社会上很多人眼里你是一个寄生虫甚至“吸血乌贼”，那么你很难保持动力。

And while the industry still pays exceptionally well, if even a young banker cannot buy a house in London, what is the point in working so hard?

尽管该行业的薪资仍特别高，但如果连一位年轻的银行家都无法在伦敦买到一栋独立屋，那么如此卖命工作又有什么意义呢？

Millennials are looking for the same things that young people have always wanted in a career: interesting work, financial security, good prospects and a job they can take pride in. If employers are serious about retaining talent for the long-term they should start by getting the right people in the door.

千禧一代在寻找年轻人一直想从职场获取的东西：有趣的工作、经济保障、良好前景以及一份他们可以引以为傲的工作。如果雇主对于长期留住人才态度认真的话，他们应该从招聘合适的员工起步。

By expanding hiring away from purely elite university applicants, a smaller but more loyal cohort of employees could surely be found.

如果把招聘范围从精英大学的小圈子扩大到更多大学，那么数量较少但更为忠诚的员工肯定是找得到的。

And if, as seems to be happening, profits in the industry are dropping to more ordinary levels, the workplace culture should change to reflect that. Shorter hours, less weekend work and the feeling that there is a life outside the office would go a long way to alleviating the monotony of entry-level jobs.

如果该行业的利润降至更普通的水平（现在似乎正是如此），那么职场文化应该有所改变，以反映这点。缩短工作时间、减少周末加班以及对于办公室以外还有生活的感觉，会大大有利于缓解入门级工作的单调乏味。

This normalisation may further reduce the appeal of finance to the most ambitious and competitive of graduates. And if that means that fewer potential scientists, engineers and artists end up working in the financial sector, then that may be no bad thing.

这种正常化可能会进一步降低金融业对于最雄心勃勃且最有竞争力的毕业生的吸引力。如果这意味着较少的潜在科学家、工程师和艺术家最终在金融行业工作，那么这或许不是件坏事。