The data reveals 12% of all employee comments in 2021 were related to ESG themes, with those mentioning social issues and the environment seeing the biggest increase compared to the year before.
The importance of ESG practices among employees is likely to remain in the spotlight for years to come, especially as it relates to attracting and retaining top talent. Over 50% of employees evaluate ESG commitments when looking at prospective employers, while those at purpose-driven organizations are 1.4 times more engaged, according to a recent survey.
Growing Influence of Younger Generations in the Workplace
While a number of themes, including flexible work and growth, have remained consistent over the past few years, the increased number of comments related to ESG signals the emergence of employees who are more purpose driven, particularly among younger generations.
As part of our analysis, we found that millennials are driving the conversation across all three areas of ESG, and are much more likely to voice their opinion about social issues. Similarly, Generation Z represents a significant proportion of comments related to ESG themes.
This pattern also extends beyond ESG to other vital aspects of the employee experience, such as belonging and diversity (B&D). Breaking down employee comments by generation reveals that millennials were most likely to leave a comment about B&D throughout 2021.
While Generation X and baby boomers are still well represented in our data, the growing influence of younger generations in the workforce will only continue to grow, especially as millennials already represent a third of the global workforce with Gen Z predicted to reach 27% by 2025.
To learn more about how the evolution of employee expectations will impact organizations in 2022, and what you can do to address them, download the full report.