Healthcare and life sciences are drawing interest from the youngest generation of job seekers just as the oldest members of Generation Alpha get ready to enter the workforce, according to a recent report.
Talent acquisition firm AMS, now part of consulting firm Korn Ferry, published the report Oct. 20. It draws on two surveys conducted with Phronesis Partners. One covered more than 5,000 employees, job seekers and students in 13 countries, with a focus on respondents ages 16 to 24. The other covered more than 500 chief human resources officers, talent acquisition executives and senior HR leaders from 14 industries in the same 13 countries.
Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies made up 11% of employers surveyed, and 30% of employers were headquartered in North America. Among job seekers surveyed, 27% were located in North America.
Gen Alpha — defined in the report as those born between 2010 and 2024, making the oldest members 16 — will make up 19% of the global workforce by 2035, according to the report.
Here are seven things to know:
1. Health and life sciences was a preferred sector for 21% of students and future job seekers, compared with 13% of early-career and mid-career workers. Retail drew just 5% of the youngest respondents, the lowest share of any age group. Public-sector work was the most popular choice at 25%.
2. Competitive pay was the top workplace factor for 48% of 18- to 24-year-olds globally and 62% of those in North America. Future job seekers who declined a job offer most often said it was because pay changed during the hiring process.
3. North American respondents ranked flexible working hours (45%) and company health benefits (40%) well above the global averages of 29% and 28%. Work-life balance ranked as a top factor for just 18% in North America, compared with 38% globally.
4. Twenty percent of next-generation respondents globally said they prefer fully remote work, falling to 10% in North America. North American future job seekers were the most likely of any region to prefer being fully onsite, at 37%.
5. Most North American respondents (75%) said they would consider project-based, part-time or temporary work. Willingness to relocate is lower: 48% of future job seekers globally said they would move for a job, compared with 68% of workers ages 25 to 35.
6. Employers ranked analytical thinking and problem-solving as the top skill they want in early-career hires, while young candidates ranked it sixth among their own strengths. Functional expertise and leadership potential ranked 11th and 12th among the skills candidates said they had.
7. Most talent acquisition leaders (76%) said entry-level jobs are not disappearing from their organizations, and 81% plan to hire more early-career workers in the next two years. The report lists healthcare among the fields where routine drafting, data gathering and note preparation are increasingly done with AI, shifting junior workers toward judgment, exception handling and oversight of AI.
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