Young workers feel that most companies are focused only on making money, and there are distinct differences in what they believe the purpose of business should be and what they perceive it to be, according to a survey by Deloitte.
The business services firm’s fifth survey of millennials – or people born after 1982 – found that, although the many of the 7,700 respondents continued to express positive views of business, the majority (54%) believed companies have no ambition beyond profit. Fully 87% agreed with the proposition: ‘The success of a business should be measured in terms of more than just its financial performance.’
The findings also revealed that values guide where millennials work and the assignments they accept. Nearly six in ten (56%) claimed to have ruled out working for organisations whose values or standard of conduct they disagreed with, while 49% reported having chosen not to undertake a task at work because it contravened their personal values or ethics.
‘There appears to be a disconnect between what millennials want [and] what business currently offers them,’ said Deloitte CEO Punjit Renjen. This separation is leading many young workers to consider changing employers and careers, with two-thirds of those polled expecting to quit their current employer to join a new organsation or to do something different in the next five years.
The findings mirrored those reported earlier this year by IEMA. It found that more than half of members responding to its 2016 practitioners’ survey who had fewer than five years’ experience in an environment and sustainability role would refuse to work for an organisation that had a record of using unethical practices.
