New PwC survey dispels myths about women and work

Friday 13 March 2015

PwC has surveyed 8,756 female millennials (women born between 1980-1995) from 75 countries to find out how they feel about the world of work and their career.

The report – The female millennial: A new era of talent – reveals that the female millennial is much more likely to believe she can reach the very top levels with her current employer, particularly those starting their careers (49%).

The female millennial ranks opportunities for career progression as the most attractive employer trait (53%); making her more career confident and ambitious than previous generations.

Female millennials in Brazil (76%), India (76%) and Portugal (68%) are the most confident, while their peers in Japan (11%), Kazakhstan (18%) and Germany (19%) are the least confident.

When it comes to diversity, 86% of female millennials seek out employers with a strong record on diversity, equality and inclusion – and while they say employers talk about diversity, 71% do not feel opportunities are really equal for all.

Lisa McClure, Director at PwC CI based in Jersey, said: “We’ve always been passionate about raising awareness of the importance and benefits of harnessing people's potential through embracing gender, age, cultural and skills diversity at PwC here in the Channel Islands.”

She added: “One of the four key tenets of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy focuses on Diversity and Inclusion. We place a significant emphasis on being diverse and inclusive as well as promoting a healthy work-life balance. On the diversity front, we already have a rich multi-cultural mix across both Jersey and Guernsey firms, with almost 30 nationalities working with us currently. We genuinely believe that having people from different backgrounds working together, with different points of view and talents, really helps us maximise on the uniqueness of each of our people, which in turn creates the highest value for our clients.”

As the experience of a 34-year-old millennial woman with 12 years’ work experience will be very different to that of a 22-year-old millennial woman just starting out in her career, the report looks at the insights and desires of the female millennial by career stage: career starters (female millennials with 0–3 years’ work experience), career developers (4–8 years’ work experience) and career establishers (9 or more years’ work experience).

Lisa said: “Dispelling some significant myths, what all female millennials across all three stages have in common is that they were least likely to have left a former employer because of starting a family, and most likely due to lack of career opportunities.”

She continued: “Employers must commit to inclusive cultures and talent strategies that lean in to the confidence and ambition of the female millennial from day one of their career, ensuring their aspirations are not matched with disappointment the further up the organisation they get.”

Employers here in Jersey take note, female millennials are entering the workforce in larger numbers than ever before and will be vital to the Island’s future commercial success. If businesses here want to develop a strong pipeline of future women leaders, it’s vital they understand what motivates this generation. For certain, with significant demand for work-life balance and flexibility from 97% of both female and male millennials, a flexible approach in the workplace is crucial in order to attract, develop and retain the best millennial talent.