Millennials and members of Generation Z have remained committed to social and political causes, even during a worldwide pandemic, according to the 2021 Deloitte
Now in its 10th year, the 2021 report polled a total of 14,655 millennials and 8,273 members of Gen Z from 45 countries across the globe. This year’s report also marks the first time that Deloitte Global researched millennials and Gen Z members in the same number of countries.
Personal concerns for both generations remained steady from previous years, with the exception of health care/disease prevention, no doubt brought upon by the pandemic. Twenty-eight percent of millennials cited health as their greatest concern in 2021, with 26% of Gen Zs feeling the same. Both generations also cited unemployment (27%) as a top concern.
Gen Z's greatest concern was found to be climate change (28%), a 7 percentage point increase from 2020. Further, more than 40% of both age groups agree that the planet has reached a "point of no return" concerning climate change.
"In the 10 years Deloitte has been conducting the Millennial Survey, millennials and Gen Zs' lives have changed, but their values have remained steadfast," said Michele Parmelee, Deloitte global deputy CEO and chief people and purpose officer, in a statement. "They have sustained their idealism, their desire for a better world, and their belief that business can and should do more to help society."
Wealth inequality also stood out as a top issue, with a majority of both millennials (69%) and Gen Zs (66%) believing that wealth and income is unequally distributed throughout society. Executive pay, self-interest from the wealthy, and laws/regulations that favor the wealthy were seen as the top contributing factors to income inequality.
"This year’s survey, though, also makes it increasingly clear that millennials and Gen Zs aren’t just resilient — they’re channeling their energies into holding themselves and others accountable," the report noted in its introduction. "They’re the people most likely to call out racism and sexism, and to shun companies and employers whose actions conflict with their personal values. Of course, that’s a generality...but millennials and Gen Zs, on the whole, seem more persistent, more vocal, and more apt than others to question and even upset the status quo."
Other notable findings from the report include:
- About a third of all respondents said they have taken time off work over the last year due to pandemic-related stress.
- More than 40% of all respondents reported to feel stressed "all or most of the time" over the last year.
- Slightly less than half of all respondents believe that business has a positive impact on society.
- Approximately 60% of Gen Zs and 56% of millennials believe systemic racism is a very or fairly widespread problem in society.
- At least one in five respondents said they feel personally discriminated against “all of the time” or frequently due to an aspect of their backgrounds.
- Around 25% of both age groups said they learned new work skills during pandemic-related downtime last year.
- Twenty-five percent of millennials and 22% of Gen Zs said they would like to work in the office “a little to a lot less often" following the pandemic.
- More than 40% of all respondents consider "flexibility/adaptability" to be the top characteristic of a successful business. "Creativity" and tech savviness followed.
For the full report, head to Deloitte's
