How do you recruit millennial caregivers into your home health agency?

Millennials are often stereotyped, but they’re also a generation of heroes. AARP found that more than 10 million millennials in the U.S. are balancing jobs with the need to care for aging parents, children with disabilities, or loved ones with chronic illnesses.

But many companies continue to provide benefits packages that seem frozen in the Mad Men era: fixed schedules, faceless mental health resources, and financial programs that fail to address the crushing burden of student debt and caregiving costs.

To attract and retain these employees, employers must reimagine support to align with millennials’ values: flexibility, authenticity, and holistic well-being. So, let’s dive into five of these innovative strategies as well as why they’ll turn your workplace into a magnet for millennial caregivers.

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1. Flexibility That Feels Human, Not Just “Remote Work”

Let’s imagine: Sarah, 32, is a marketing manager who spends most of her day in back-to-back meetings when she receives a call from her father’s hospice nurse.

In a traditional work model, she would be faced with the dilemma of logging off early (and risking side-eye from her boss) or silencing her phone (and possibly feeling guilty for missing a crucial update).

Take these lose-lose scenarios that millennial caregivers encounter daily. Flexibility is not just about treating work as a secondary activity; it’s about adjusting the parameters of work to accommodate life’s uncertainties.

A 2023 Deloitte survey showed that 74% of millennials prefer flexible hours to promotions or raises. But real flexibility is nuanced. Patagonia, for instance, lets employees rearrange their work schedules around caregiving responsibilities without having to seek prior approval, as long as projects are on schedule.

Others, such as Salesforce, also provide “caregiving concierge” services for employees who need help finding last-minute childcare or eldercare. The key? Trust. When caregivers aren’t punished for leaving work to deal with emergencies, they’re more productive,  not less.

2. Mental Health Support That Doesn’t Feel Like a Corporate Checklist

Caregiving is a mercurial sea of grief, guilt, and exhaustion, and millennials are more likely to cite mental health as a primary concern than any generation before them. But many Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) sit collecting digital dust because they are impersonal or difficult to access.

Take it from Jake, a 28-year-old software engineer who is caring for his sister, who has autism: “I called our EAP once, waited on hold for 20 minutes and gave up. It was another box ticked off, not real help.”

Leading companies are reinventing mental health support. For example, Adobe provides free subscriptions to meditation apps such as Headspace and organizes monthly “mental health circles” facilitated by licensed therapists.

Even better? Leaders at early-stage giants like Unilever speak publicly about their own mental health journeys, chipping away at stigma. The consequences are real: In a National Alliance for Caregiving study, 45 percent of millennial caregivers reported having depression,  double the rate of millennials who weren’t caring for a loved one. When employers make talking about mental health the norm, caregivers are comfortable asking for help.

3. Financial Wellness Programs That Tackle the Real Costs of Caregiving

General caregiver retention, administrative costs, operational costs like home care software and materials, the list of expenses for home health agencies is clear. That said, millennial caregivers are not just emotionally spent, they’re financially sink or swim. Between co-pays, adaptive equipment, and missed promotions due to caregiving responsibilities, many are postponing major milestones such as buying a home or marrying and starting a family. Old-fashioned 401(k) matches aren’t going to do the trick when somebody’s deciding between paying a therapist copay and buying groceries.

Innovative companies are being creative. Etsy provides employees an annual stipend of $4,000 for caregiving expenses, which they can spend on anything from respite care to meal delivery. Pinterest partners with financial coaches who focus on “sandwich generation” issues (like saving for retirement while covering a parent’s assisted living). Tech companies like Carrot Fertility offer benefits that cover fertility treatments or adoption fees, recognizing that caregiving extends beyond aging parents. These perks carry a strong message: “We notice your sacrifices, and we support you.”

4. Growth Opportunities That Double as Self-Care

Millennials want to find purpose and grow, but caregiving can sap the kind of bandwidth that allows for LinkedIn Learning courses, or attending networking events. The solution? Combine skill-building with self-care.

Take Microsoft’s “career customization” program, which allows employees to move roles or reduce hours temporarily without derailing their career path. An employee named Maria went part-time for two years while taking care of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s, and still received promotions for high-impact projects she completed on her own schedule.

Other companies, such as Patagonia, have introduced paid “caregiving sabbaticals” so that employees can undergo caregiving training or just recuperate. These programs aren’t merely compassionate,  they’re strategic. Loyalty and innovation are what employees who feel invested deliver back.

5. Building Communities, Not Just Coworkers

Caregiving can be isolating. Baby boomers often lived close to family, relying on traditional networks, while millennials are more likely to create “chosen families” due to the geographic mobility of modern life. Employers can bridge this by creating authentic communities among caregivers.

At Salesforce, employees found themselves joining these things called ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) such as “Parents & Caregivers,” and finding themselves exchanging tips on everything from negotiating bills associated with medical care to where to take kids for sensory-friendly activities.

Airbnb takes it a step further: it holds annual “Caregiver Summits,” at which employees and industry experts brainstorm inclusive policies. Even small changes matter: When members of the marketing firm HL Group noticed caregivers declining social invitations due to time constraints, they introduced ‘walk-and-talk’ meetings, where employees could walk while participating in Zoom calls, a subtle way to balance connection and caregiving.

Why are millennials important to home health care?

Millennial caregivers aren’t a random niche group. They are the future of your workforce. Millennials will comprise 75% of the labor market by 2030, and caregiving responsibilities will do nothing but increase in the face of an aging population. Companies that adjust now will earn loyalty, save on turnover costs, and attract talent who prioritize empathy as much as ambition.

As Tara, a 30-year-old nurse taking care of her husband, who has PTSD, put it: “When my boss told me to take a paid week off after his surgery, no questions asked, I didn’t just feel grateful. I felt human.”

That’s the value of benefits that cater to real-life needs. Ultimately, attracting millennial caregivers isn’t about perks; it’s about creating an environment where caregiving is not hidden or shamed but embraced as an essential part of what makes communities whole. 

References:

1. National Alliance for Caregiving study
2. Deloitte millennials survey

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2. Six keys to solving staffing issues in homecare agencies
3. Boosting job satisfaction to retain home health nurses
4. Home care agency work/life balance tips for clinicians
5. Top strategies for developing strong homecare teams
6. Is it time for a policy update in your home health agency?