Lots of Millennials and Gen Z folks are actually saying no to big, well-paying jobs and even quitting their current gigs because of their strong ethical beliefs.
New data from the annual Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey shows that young workers today aren't ready to give up what they believe in just for a fat paycheck.
Millennials are those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, and Generation Z, born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s.
These young workers are sticking to their guns, even when living costs are going through the roof.
According to Sarah McCann-Bartlett, who's the boss at the Australian HR Institute, the values of young workers have been heavily influenced by the COVID pandemic and what they see in the media.
She explained that a lot of Millennials and Gen Z-ers were just starting out in their careers during the COVID times and didn't have the typical 'job' experience. This kind of changed how they look at loyalty to a company.
And on top of that, they're bombarded with global problems and have strong beliefs about them from a young age.
She told News.com.au that, "Even though some people might call this entitlement, it's worth thinking about the bigger picture these young folks are dealing with. After the pandemic, workers of all ages are paying more attention to what their employers stand for. And guess what? The younger crowd is leading this charge."
"Gen Z employees are the first to grow up with news going 24/7, so they're way more aware of social and environmental issues than other generations were when they were starting out. Feeling the need to find work that's purpose-driven could be because they've seen things like the climate crisis, big sexual harassment cases, and inequality in the workplace."
Deloitte's research found that 40 per cent of the people they surveyed have said "no thanks" to work stuff that doesn't match up with what they believe in. And this number is only gonna go up as more Millennials and Gen Z folks start working.
Dr Ben Hamer, the head honcho of Future Work at PwC, also said that the common idea that young workers are all about themselves and lazy isn't true. He pointed out that 40 percent of Millennials volunteered in the past year, and a whopping 73 per cent put in over 40 hours a week.
So, if companies want to get more young blood on board, Sarah McCann-Bartlett suggests they better freshen up what they're offering in terms of employee values.
