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Survey: Why millennials see NGOs as their dream employers

millenials

BD GRAPHIC

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are the dream employers for Kenya’s millennials, a survey by online jobs portal BrighterMonday has found.

The millennials, who make up an estimated 45 percent of the workforce, look out for good pay, job security and proximity to home when selecting the company to work for, says the report released yesterday.

“NGOs have more flexibility to employees in the workplace. Most of the NGOs have different work hours, some do work half day. There is also a sense of purpose on impact of campaigns run by NGOs that make millennials get a sense of pride on the impact they are creating in the market,” said BrighterMonday’s Chief Executive Emmanuel Mutuma.

Regular field work and travel also makes NGO very attractive to the millennials, who are defined as those falling in the age bracket of between 18 and 38 years.

The survey, which highlights how to engage millennials productively in today's workplace, was commissioned by BrighterMonday and supported by the Mark Zuckerberg-backed tech firm Andela.

More than 8,000 urban Kenyan employed millennials were surveyed while extra data was gathered from BrighterMonday’s internal database of more than two million jobseekers. Millennials are expected to make up 50 percent of the global workforce by next year.

After NGOs, the financial services sector which includes banking and insurance come in second with 15 percent of millennials terming them as their employers of choice, followed by IT at 14 percent.

Other sectors that were in the top eight industries that were named by millennials as having the best working conditions include media and communications, sales and marketing, education and training, engineering and retail.

“Millennials are fast becoming the teeming populace of the workforce not only in Kenya but across the world, and most employers are grappling with the challenge of ensuring their millennial workforce is productive,” said Mr Mutuma.

45 percent of Kenyan millennials, who make up the current urban workforce are gainfully employed, 57 percent of whom are educated with at least a first degree.

Millennials however change jobs fast, especially where the feel that there are minimal chances of promotion or when they are not given enough responsibilities, training opportunities, recognition and frequent feedback.

“Millenials spend an average two years at a job. Two years is too long. They either go up or go out,” said Ronald Osumba, chairman of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund who also attended the report’s launch.

He added that the workplace was not adapting as fast as it should to the changing aspirations of the worker, creating a need to bridge the gap between the education system, workforce and employers.

The survey also includes a case study that BrighterMonday conducted on Andela, whose workforce consists of at least 70 percent millennials.

“They (millennials) want to work in a place that embodies who they are and their professional ambitions. Engaging this demographic on a daily basis provides us with continuous feedback and lessons on how to intentionally create a culture in which they can thrive to become tomorrow’s leaders,” said Marilyn Adell, the People Director at Andela Kenya.