Millennials, Sustainability and the Future of the labor market

Respect for the environment is becoming an increasingly important value for new generations, who are attracted to companies whose values ​​coincide with their own. A report by IE University-Foundation and Coca-Cola shows that Corporate Social Responsibility strategies are crucial for companies to attract talent among millennials. If companies have sustainability in the business plan, new talents look at it more positively, and the willingness to work for it increases. According to the PageGroup report, in 2019, working in a socially responsible company was one of the main motivations for 87.6% of candidates when choosing a (new) job.

By 2030, the majority of the workforce will be millennials. This group has high expectations regarding job satisfaction. According to Deloitte, two out of three millennials would quit their job if their current job was all about making a profit. They also want attention to be paid to the environment, social life and the well-being of employees. As a result, millennials are willing to give up part of their salary to work for a sustainable company that offers social benefits.

Companies are increasingly putting their sustainability in the spotlight to attract and retain top talent. This does not only result in new talented people. For example, according to a study by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), companies that integrated environmental strategies into their business plans increased productivity by 16%. The consultancy Bain & Company also shows that sustainability is an optimal starting point for developing talent, regardless of the type of industry and the country. In addition, when companies tell their employees that they care about the environment and society, employees become more loyal and productive.

In the future, companies should not only focus on profit but also on creating a positive impact on people and the planet. Companies can also increase profitability by caring for the community and the environment. The triple bottom line approach refers to "people, planet, profit". This approach makes companies more attractive to new talent, improves the position for consumers and can prepare the company for the future with an acceptable tax approach.

Companies that incorporate sustainable strategies into their policies benefit from financial benefits and a good reputation and attract the best candidates. That development would probably have been less (rapidly) present without millennials. They are an increasingly large part of the labor market potential and thus have more and more influence on how things are done and what they should be. The environment and ecology thus become an essential value for the future of (the choice for) the workplace. How could the themes millennials find important have an even more significant influence on the focus of PGGM and on how the labor market is developing for us?