Just How Much is a Millennial Worth?

Well, isn't that nice. Somebody out there thinks we twenty-somethings are actually worth something.

The past year has been a brutal one for Generation Y, full of opinion pieces lamenting the giant failure we represent to our country. To summarize: we're cheap, self-absorbed, lazy social media addicts. But hey, at least we're not considered disposable just yet: A new study shows that most HR departments say replacing a millennial employee can set a company back between $15,000 and $25,000.

As The Washington Post points out, Millennials are projected to make up 6 percent of the workforce by next year, and 46 percent by 2020.

Did I mention we also have really short attention spans? Millennials tend to stay with companies for an average of two years, compared with the seven years our parents' generation averaged. Our tendency to keep our options open makes those costly turnovers even worse news for the companies hiring us.

This helps explain why everyone's become so fixated on company culture lately... If you really want your Millennials to stick around you're probably going to have to consider investing in that bowling alley. Or at least some giant tubs of candy. Just sayin'.