Report shows Utahns more optimistic on financial futures than national peers

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns have a positive outlook on their financial futures, particularly millennials, a new Utah Foundation report says.

Moreover, Utahns are far more optimistic about their financial futures than their peers nationally, according to the report released Thursday.

Noelia Imani, a 2014 graduate of Westminster College, works for Instructure, a startup software company. The findings of the report mirror her experiences in the Utah workforce, she said.

"For me personally, I’m in a good place with my job. I have the opportunity to learn and grow in our company. It gives me a positive outlook on where I’ll be in the future," Imani said.

Brian Short, an account manager for Love Communications, said he, too, is optimistic about his financial future in Utah and believes he will continue to find enhanced opportunities in the Beehive State as his career progresses.

While Utah's economy did not suffer as much as many states during the economic downturn, Short said he occasionally worried about his job prospects once he graduated from the University of Utah with a communication degree in 2011.

"When I just graduated college, it was a very different feel. The market was a lot further down in jobs, especially in marketing and advertising. They were very hard to come by," he said.

"I was really nervous. After getting into the field, I feel like I’ve moved up quickly and have just been happy with the increases in pay and stuff."

Short, 29, had worked during college in a Harmons grocery store deli. When he graduated, the company hired him in its marketing department. It helped, he said, to have a foot in the door.

The Utah Foundation report, "Millennials and Boomers: How Utah's Generations Compare to Each Other and the Nation," is being released in segments. Part II, released Thursday, focuses on finance and workplace preferences.

"Utahns seem to have more positive outlooks on their financial futures than their national counterparts, which may be due in part to the impacts of marital status and parenthood. Utahns are also more content with their current earnings," the report's conclusion states.

The report also found that millennial Utahns are more likely than older generations to think that finding a job they want will be very easy.

Imani said millennials are tech-savvy, which helps them compete for jobs. But the downside of youth is inexperience, which can give more mature workers a leg up in job searches, she said.

"If you're lucky, just find a place that will take you in, give you experience, allow you to learn. If not, you just kind have to start at the bottom," she said.

The research also showed millennials placed a higher level of importance on jobs that would allow them to pay off student loans quickly.

While part of her salary goes to retire student debt, Imani said that is far from her primary goal. She is far more invested in improving her knowledge and skills with a company she believes has considerable growth potential, she said.

Across age groups, Utahns tend to be more content with their current employers than their peers nationally. The research also found that Utahns with families are less likely than their unmarried and/or childless counterparts to want different employers.

Among Utahns, the ideal job enables them to have a good work-life balance while being well-compensated.

Short said employers scour professional networking sites such as LinkedIn for prospective employees.

"It's almost like you’re being hunted, than circling the classifieds," Short said.

While prospective employers make generous offers to potential hires, job satisfaction is not all about money, he said.

"I'm happy where I am. I see a future so I don't worry about jumping higher quickly because I'm living with a good work-life balance right now. That's something I don't want to give up," Short said.

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