Millennials are Seeking Purpose and Innovation

More than 240,000 respondents in Universum’s Talent Survey have ranked the companies they find most desirable for employment, and the results delivered some valuable insights. Millennials want to truly understand a company’s purpose, align with it and work with others to propel the organization’s performance. And they want to be inspired, not overwhelmed, by employer messages.

Storytelling is critical: Millennials want to learn about employees who embody the organization’s values and communicate authentic stories about their working life. Millennials’ greatest fear is to be stuck without the opportunity for professional growth and development. Professional services firms like PwC and EY continue to pull the highest rankings in this regard; other industries should benchmark how this sector nurtures employees through training and mentoring.

«The 2015 WMAE confirms that Millennials will go to work for companies whose stories they can tell, whose values they can espouse and whose businesses they can learn,» says Petter Nylander, CEO of Universum. «Students are seeking platforms for their own performance and growth. And they told us which companies are accomplishing this.»

There was little movement in the top five employers among business students from the 2014 rankings, with Google once again taking top spot, followed by PwC, EY, Goldman Sachs, and KPMG. The top-ranking companies among engineering students are Google, Microsoft, Apple, BMW Group, and General Electric.

Millennials are highly attracted to entrepreneurial energy in the workplace. They want to work in innovative settings, unencumbered by infrastructure, while still delivering strong financial results. Consequently, the tech industry generally attracts this kind of talent. Regarding employers in other industries, the energy sector took a hit with all employers losing ranks while the fast-moving consumer goods industry experienced a positive upswing.

The WMAE rankings are compiled from the Universum Talent Surveys, conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US. These markets represent 69 percent of the world’s economy. The field period for the data collection was from September 2014 to April 2015.