Linkedin, Nintendo and Sky are Gen Z’s top employers when it comes to social impact. They out-performed 100 companies in the ‘career maker’ category of the Social Impact Barometer 2023 of 16-24-year-olds, from leading brand and social impact agency We Are Futures.
Key to their success were forward-thinking attitudes around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – identified in the survey as key drivers for hiring young talent.
93% of those questioned wanted an employer to ‘give them opportunities to drive positive environmental or social change’ such as corporate volunteering. While 82% believed it was important for companies to have inclusivity policies for the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ+ issues were also the most talked-about topic online when it came to workplace initiatives.
Other recruitment incentives included working in the office, with 90% saying they wanted face-to-face time with colleagues rather than meeting online.
96% also said brands should offer training programmes in workplace and life skills – suggesting employers aren’t doing enough on their own.
Pre-pandemic perks such as free drinks and yoga sessions came bottom of a list of six things that made an employer attractive.
Mark Fawcett, CEO of We Are Futures, said: ‘We know young people consider a company’s social impact when thinking about working for them. But we were surprised that nearly all the young people we surveyed thought it was important for an employer to create opportunities for them to make a difference.
‘HR policies and the way businesses look after their staff aren’t just an internal issues anymore. They’re discussed online and influence how people see a brand overall. HR and marketing should work together because both are impacting the other’s work. If you can state that your business has genuine social impact, you are more attractive to good and diverse talent.’
The Social Impact Barometer uniquely measures a company’s social impact across four categories: reputation as an employer, support for community, attitude towards the individual and sustainability record. It analyses the social media of 85,000 16-24-year-olds across 22 million data.
