NZ female millennials most confident of any generation

News release

New Zealand female millennials are most confident and ambitious of any female generation

To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday 8th March 2015, PwC surveyed 8,756 female millennials (women born between 1980-1995) from 75 countries including New Zealand, to find out how they feel about the world of work and their career.

The report – The female millennial: A new era of talent- New Zealand findings – reveals that New Zealand female millennials rank opportunities for competitive wages and other financial incentives as the most attractive employer trait (63%, compared with 52% globally), followed by career progression at 53 per cent and at the same level as their global peers, making female millennials more career confident and ambitious than previous generations.

When it comes to diversity, 90 per cent of New Zealand female millennials seek out employers with a strong record on diversity, equality and inclusion – and while they say employers talk about diversity, 73 per cent do not feel opportunities are really equal for all. Additional findings from PwC’s New Zealand CEO Survey released last week, revealed just 32 per cent of New Zealand CEOs have a talent diversity and inclusiveness strategy, lagging behind global counterparts in comparison, with 64 per cent of CEOs globally and 86 per cent of CEOs in Australia having a strategy. Thirty five per cent of those New Zealand companies that don’t have a diversity strategy, have no plans of adopting one this year.

What’s more, 55 per cent of New Zealand millennials believe employers are too male biased when it comes to promoting employees from within.

This compares to global trends where 43 per cent of female millennials believe employers are too male biased– up 14% since 2011. Although millennial women in Spain (60%), France (58%) and Ireland (56%) view employers in their country as the most male biased, they’re followed closely behind by both New Zealand and Australia (55%). In Malaysia (16%) and the Philippines (11%) female millennials are more optimistic.

PwC Partner and Diversity Leader Leo Foliaki says New Zealand businesses may be missing out and practices must change if they want to access to this growing pool of female talent.

“These female millennials are entering the workforce in greater numbers than ever before and are more highly educated, but they have entirely new career mindsets.

“When it comes to earning power and patterns, 92 per cent of New Zealand female millennials are in a dual career couple, with 45 per cent earning as much as their partner or spouse and 23 per cent are the primary earner in their relationship. This means 68 per cent of New Zealand female millennials earn equal to or more than their partner or spouse.”

The research also dispels some significant myths, for example that women leave work to have families.

“The New Zealand female millennial was least likely to have left a former employer because she was starting a family, and most likely due to her work and personal life being out of balance and wanting a role with more flexibility. Employers must commit to inclusive cultures and talent strategies that allow for the ambition of the female millennial from the very beginning of their careers,” he says.

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Notes to editors:

This PwC survey dispels myths about women and work, with key findings including:

•Opportunities for competitive wages and other financial incentives top the list of most attractive employer traits for New Zealand female millennials.

•47% of New Zealand female millennials starting out in their careers believe they can reach the very top levels with their current employer, compared with 45% globally. 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.

•92% of New Zealand female millennials are part of a dual-career couple (compared with 86% globally), while 68% earn the same as or more than their partner or spouse (compared with 66% globally). Almost a quarter (23%) are the primary earner in their relationship (24% globally).

•But almost half of global respondents say employers are too male biased when it comes to internal promotions, and this is higher of New Zealand female millennials at 55%.

•55% of New Zealand female millennials feel employers are too male biased when it comes to retaining employees also, compared with 18% globally.

•73% of New Zealand female millennials feel that opportunities are not equal for all (71% globally).

•The millennial generation can be expected to drive unprecedented shifts in organisational culture, with significant demand for work life balance and flexibility.

•The female millennial expects real time, high quality, future-focused feedback and despite being extremely tech-savvy, prefers critical feedback discussions to take place face-to-face.

•Female demand for international experience has never been higher with 73% of New Zealand female millennials wanting to work outside their home country during their career (71% globally).

•When asked why they might leave their current employer, 22% of New Zealand female millennials said they were starting a family and wanted to spend more time at home, compared to 19% globally – making this the sixth most likely reason millennial women would leave their former employers.

Survey methodology

The report is based on a survey of over 10,000 millennials from 75 countries, 8,756 of whom are female. More thoughts on diversity can also be found on PwC’s Gender Agenda blog.

Please note, 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 female millennial: A new era of talent 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). Due to the sample size for New Zealand, these results are not broken down in these career stages for the New Zealand country results.

PwC is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion and has a range of programmes in place to make progress on the issue. These include Aspire to Lead: The Women’s Leadership Series, a global forum on women and leadership for students around the world. PwC has also partnered with the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign, which aims to mobilise one billion men and boys as advocates and agents of change in ending the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally.

To read more PwC research on millennials, take a look at Next Generation Diversity: Developing tomorrow's female leaders, Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace in financial services, andMillennials at work: Reshaping the workplace in financial services in Asia.

The female millennial: A new era of talent- New Zealand findingspublication will be live on our website on Sunday 8th March available at: www.pwc.co.nz/femalemillennial

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