There’s no doubt that millennials are more stressed than ever. From crippling student loans to long working hours, it’s easy to see why they’re so desperate for employee benefits and perks, especially anything that helps their domestic life. Without help, many millennials simply don’t have the time or energy to dedicate to daily household chores.
Even for millennials who have ready access to washing machines and dryers in their own home, most people take about an hour to do laundry. At first, an hour might seem like a small amount of time to spare. But it’s time that millennials barely have, especially when they must carve it out from time set aside for personal care, family, and social obligations. It’s no wonder that 60% of millennials would rather wear lightly worn clothes again than do their laundry!
Let’s face it. Nobody wants their employees arriving at the office disheveled and tired. Complimentary laundry service shows your employees that you care about their well-being. In fact, offering laundry services is one of the best ways to increase employee satisfaction and overall happiness.
Millennials Expect Employee Perks
As demographics shift, employers must offer benefits that keep their employees contented and motivated to stick around. With high workplace standards, 22% of millennials don’t expect to stay with their current employer for the next five years. Offering the occasional employee perk for millennials is a great way to buck this trend and encourage employees to stay with your company.
While employees always appreciate classic benefits like dental, health, and vision plans, employee perks are slightly different. Employee perks are non-wage incentives that increase employee satisfaction, like laundry service, childcare, and flexible work schedules. These employee perks help improve work-life balance and keep your employees satisfied. To inspire millennials to stay with your company, try using such perks to make their life easier and offer more than a paycheck.
Why Don’t Millennials Do Their Laundry?
First of all, some millennials definitely do their laundry. But for those who can’t ever seem to see a load through from beginning to end, several culprits may be getting in the way.
- Millennials didn’t learn basic clothing care. When millennials were in school, many of them didn’t have access to home economics courses. As a result, a huge percentage of millennials didn’t learn skills like sewing, hemming, or even button repair. In addition, most people in this demographic don’t know the specifics of how to launder different fabrics properly. It’s common for them to throw clothes together in one batch, hoping nothing has special laundry requirements. Unfortunately, washing clothes this way can damage them in the long run. To get the job done easily and correctly, many millennials prefer to hire professionals for their laundry and dry cleaning rather than do it themselves.
- It takes too much time to do the laundry. How can millennials find time for mundane tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, and dishes when nearly three-quarters of millennials work over 40 hours a week? Millennials undoubtedly feel overwhelmed with daily tasks, and their prevalent use of social media only increases the pressure to “have it all.” In addition to enduring grueling workweeks, millennials are expected to keep up with their social media presence, have an enviable social life, and stay in touch with family. On top of this, society tells them to maintain the perfect skincare routine, find time for regular exercise, and eat healthy home-cooked meals. Even for those with a washer and dryer in the home, the entire clothing care process is inconvenient. Time is the only thing that we can’t buy, and hardworking millennials would rather spend their free time doing something else.
- Millennial families are small. Many millennials don’t have children because it’s too expensive. As rent rises and student loan debt follows them, many millennials are concerned they won’t even be able to buy a house, let alone have kids. The pandemic only increased these sentiments, with 15% of millennials stating they intend to delay having children due to COVID-19. Since these families have fewer clothes to wash, there’s less need for millennials to invest in costly washer and dryer units.
- Fewer stay-at-home parents. Although the overall household size is shrinking and the birth rate is declining, many millennials do have children. But most of these millennials also have full-time jobs. These busy parents, especially single mothers, barely have time to do their laundry. It’s even more difficult when they’re responsible for the entire family. Having children means more time sorting, washing, and folding clothes on top of the increase in daily household chores. A professional laundry service can lighten the load for busy parents.
Benefits of Offering Laundry Service to Your Employees
Millennials expect more from their job than money. The shift in demographics means that employers are now under pressure to offer employee perks that increase their team’s quality of life. But this can actually be great for businesses. Any perks or bonuses that employers give their employees boost morale, productivity, and the company as a whole.
Laundry Service Is More Convenient than Ever
The average person spends 13 hours a week on household chores like cleaning, cooking, and laundry. When you take care of your employees’ laundry, they have more time to spend socializing and relaxing. Employers that give their employees the gift of time will reap the benefits in the workplace. With Mulberrys Garment Care, your employees won’t even need to worry about driving to the dry cleaners! We offer pickup and dry cleaning delivery services, so your employees can spend more time relaxing and arrive at work refreshed the next day.
Professional Laundry Service Equals a Professional Appearance
Millennials don’t always have time to care for their laundry properly. And even millennials with excellent laundry habits won’t achieve the same results that you can get from a professional dry cleaning service. For example, does your staff wear uniforms? Professionally cleaned laundry is essential to keep your team’s uniforms looking sharp, tidy, and consistent.
Outsourcing your employee’s laundry will yield professional results every time. Investing in a laundry service gives back to your business by keeping your team looking fresh and professional every day!
Increases Employee Satisfaction
Millennials currently comprise 35% of the workforce, which will only increase in the years to come. Employers who intend to stick around should consider appealing to millennials with the workplace benefits and perks they expect.
When you provide your employees with perks like laundry service, they’re more likely to stay with your company. Choosing the right employee perk for millennials also helps your business attract top talent. The bottom line is that millennials want to work for companies that make their lives easier. Offering complimentary laundry service is one of the best ways to invest in your employees’ happiness.
Mulberrys Garment Care
If you’re looking for ways to keep your employees satisfied and productive, consider offering laundry service as an employee perk for millennials and other staff by teaming up with Mulberrys Garment Care.
We are an award-winning, full-service, eco-friendly dry-cleaning company that even offers wedding dress cleaning services. Our specially trained experts can help you clean, restore, and preserve your most treasured garments.
Ready to learn more about offering our services to your team? Contact us today.
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