Millennial generation willing to sacrifice money for happiness

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The average person works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks out of the year.

Taking home a hefty paycheck might make all of those hours feel worthwhile, but it could take more than that to satisfy the Millennial generation.

College Senior Caroline Gasparini will enter the workforce for the first time this summer. Like thousands of others in her generation, she’d sacrifice money for a better work environment. “I feel like I should be thinking about salary, but I’m not,” she said.

Gasparini said she’s met several people who don’t like their jobs, and wants to avoid becoming one of them. “I guess those people who don’t want to go to work everyday and are really unhappy with what they’re doing, and I don’t want to be that way. I want to be happy with the life I’m living,” she said.

A new study from Fidelity Investments found more than half of millennials agree with Gasparini. Nearly 60 percent said “quality of work life,” is more important than financial benefits when searching for a new job. Many people even said they’d be willing to take a pay cut for a better work experience, and it’s not just millennials that feel that way.

Don Serrenho of Athol is a baby boomer, and he told 22News quality of life is much more important than how much you make. “I was always looking for a job I would like, and would take less money to work in a profession where I enjoyed going to work everyday,” he said.

The study also found more than half of millennials don’t negotiate their salary. If you do, you could end up getting the best of both worlds.