Managing tomorrow's people

Managing tomorrow's people
Millennials at work - perspectives from a new generation

Much has been written about millennials, but how much do we really understand about their expectations of work?

In September 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed 4,271 graduates from 44 countries with the aim of providing a brief insight into the minds of the millennial. As they enter the workforce, what are their hopes and expectations? And most importantly, do companies and HR teams need to revise their current strategies to accommodate these factors?
Our findings have been published in a report, Millennials at work - perspectives from a new generation. Reports highlights include:

-Millennials expect job mobility and want the opportunity to experience overseas assignments - 80% would like to work abroad and 70% expect to use other languages during their career.

-Corporate responsibility is critical - 88% said they will choose employers who have corporate social responsibility (CSR) values that reflect their own and 86% would consider leaving an employer if CSR values no longer matched their expectations.

-The theory that future generations will reject traditional work practices is debunked. The majority expect some element of office based work and only 3% expect to work mainly at home / other locations. Most of expect to be working mainly regular office hours with only 18% expecting mainly flexible hours.

-The notion of portfolio careers is not likely to become a reality for this group - 75% of whom believe that they will have between two and five employers in a lifetime.

-Training and development is the most highly valued benefit. The number choosing training and development as their first choice of benefit is three times higher than those who chose cash bonuses. 98% believe working with strong coaches and mentors is an important part of their development.

-Only 7% of the sample said time off to do community / charity work would be one of the top three benefits that they would value over the next five years.
Over half of the sample believes they will personally fund their retirement with only 5% believing that their retirement would be funded by the government/state and 17% by their employer.

-Our millennials envision a 2020 world where China, India and Russia will have more economic influence than the US and Europe (47%). Only 30% of US respondents disagreed. And over a third of respondents believe that companies will be more influential than governments by 2020.

To download your copy of Millennials at work and to find out more about our Managing tomorrow's people series, please visit:
www.pwc.com/managingpeople2020
Kind regards.
Michael Rendell Partner and leader of Human Resource Services
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (UK)