LOS ANGELES — Despite some concerns about the U.S. economy, one generation of workers is willing to take employment-related risks more than any other generation.
Vienna Hintze is a 29-year-old who moved to Los Angeles in 2022. She grew up on the East Coast, and after finishing college at Syracuse University, she worked in the marketing field in Manhattan. Hintze wasn’t feeling satisfied with her position and wanted a change. So, she packed up and made the move to the West Coast.
“After I moved out to LA, I thought to myself, what’s my dream?” Hintze said. “What’s my version of that?”
Hintze stayed in marketing when she first landed in the city and started her own firm. Even though she was working for herself, Hintze didn’t feel connected to the work she was doing.
“It ended up not being creative enough for me, and that’s one of the big reasons why I had to pivot,” Hintze said. “Because it just wasn’t fitting my lifestyle.”
A study by the National Institute of Health finds that 60% of millennials are open to finding a new job, which is roughly 15% more than any other working-age generation. The study finds millennials want to be in positions where they’re motivated by their work and enjoying the duties that come with the job.
Hintze feels no different from her millennial peers. While she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do, a memorable session with her therapist prompted her to get more in tune with herself.
“She asked, what does align with you now?” Hintze recalled. “And I said, well, I want to work outside, I want to work with my hands, I want to be connected to nature in some way, and I want to interact with people all day.”
Hintze gets to do all of those things after starting her business, the Main Street Flower Truck. She sets up floral arrangements for private events, like baby showers and weddings, and also hosts pop-ups in her 1969 Chevrolet pickup.
Despite having early mornings and long days on weekends, Hintze loves what she’s doing.
“It’s so much fun,” she said. “I get to meet the most exciting people, the most interesting people, see cool stuff around LA.”
Millennial turnover costs the economy roughly $30.5 billion a year, according to research by Gallup. But having people switching jobs isn’t necessarily a bad thing, according to one local researcher.
“It enables you to have some people who come in and might actually be go-getters, and perform really well, but they’re not going to stay with you forever, and so then they leave,” said Alec Levenson, who is a senior research scientist at USC’s Marshall Center for effective organizations. “And even if you replace them with somebody who’s not quite as good, you benefited from all of the things they contributed while they were there.”
Hintze says although switching careers, or starting your own business, can be scary, the best way to approach it is to dive right in.
“Just go for it. Figure out the details later, figure out the logistics later, you got to rip it,” Hintze said. “And know that you’re going to succeed if your heart’s in it.”