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Millennials holding fast to core values in a constantly changing world
Millennials and Gen Zs hold the key to creating a “better normal”
Deloitte research reveals “resilient generations.” In the face of unprecedented health and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, millennials and Gen Zs express resolve and a vision to build a better future.
Executive summary
The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2020 explores millennials’ and Gen Zs’ views, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey reveals that despite the individual challenges and personal sources of anxiety that millennials and Gen Zs are facing, they have remained focused on larger societal issues, both before and after the onset of the pandemic. If anything, the pandemic has reinforced their desire to help drive positive change in their communities and around the world. And they continue to push for a world in which businesses and governments mirror that same commitment to society, putting people ahead of profits and prioritising environmental sustainability.
The world that follows the COVID-19 pandemic surely will be different and likely more aligned with the ideals that millennials and Gen Zs have expressed in this and previous Millennial Surveys. They’ve seen how quickly the earth can heal, how rapidly business can adapt, and how resourceful and cooperative people can be. They know that a post-pandemic society can be better than the one that preceded it, and they’re tenacious enough to make it a reality.
Research scope
The 2020 report consists of two parts: a “primary” survey of 18,426 millennials and Gen Zs across 43 countries conducted between November 2019 and early January 2020, and a “pulse” survey of 9,102 individuals over 13 countries taken between April and May of 2020 in the midst of the worldwide pandemic. Many questions from the first study were repeated to gauge the effect of the pandemic on opinions.
Millennials included in the study were born between January 1983 and December 1994. Gen Z respondents were born between January 1995 and December 2002. The overall sample size of 27,500 represents the largest survey of millennials and Gen Zs completed in the nine years Deloitte Global has published this report.
A New Zealand perspective
The key findings of the survey were:
- Millennials are more inclined to stay with employers for longer. The percentage of New Zealand millennials saying they would stay with their employer beyond five years increased from 17% to 30%, while the figure stood at 35% for all global millennials.
- Despite that security, they regularly experience stress (48% of New Zealand millennials agree they feel anxious or stressed all or most of the time, and 70% said they often worry or get stressed about their general financial situation).
- However during the COVID-19 pandemic, that stress went down markedly, with anxiety levels falling eight points in the peak-pandemic pulse survey (which did not include New Zealand).
- Stress is something they feel they can’t discuss with their employers – 35% of New Zealand millennials have taken time off work in the past 12 months due to anxiety or stress, but of those, only 28% told their employers that stress was the reason for their absence.
- Fewer millennials think businesses have a positive impact on society. This has been in constant decline for the last three years, going from 58% of New Zealand millennials in 2018 to 45% in 2020 (61% and 51% respectively for global millennials).
- They are holding true to their values in the face of challenges rather than backing down. 40% of New Zealand millennials have stopped a relationship with a business because of the negative impact of its products/services on the environment, and 28% said the same for a business’ ability to protect personal data.
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