Gen Z Workers Demanding Purpose Over Pay

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
It's Mira Business FM, it's the Morning Drive. So, finance professionals across the Middle East are looking beyond salaries with growing demand for careers focused on sustainability, social impact and innovation. There's a new ACCA survey out. ACCA is the Association for Chartered Certified Accountants. It's a global survey, and it shows growing demand for jobs that deliver those three things. Alongside rising interest in AI and entrepreneurship, but there are concerns around pay, workplace pressure, and the future of hiring is also shaping the conversation. So, here to discuss the findings, Kush Ahuja is the head of Middle East and Eurasia at ACCA. Welcome, Kush, nice to see you.

**Kush Ahuja** (0:48)
Thank you, Tim.

**Tim Elliott** (0:49)
Good to have you back. Let me start with a really simple question for you, or seemingly a simple question.
What's the big takeaway from this year's survey?

**Kush Ahuja** (1:01)
Tim, this is one of the largest surveys globally, with more than 11,000 respondents, 570 from the Middle East, which is a very good representation. And I think that the finance profession in the Middle East is undergoing a real shift. What you have talked about, people are looking to align with values, their personal values and the corporate values, which is why they're looking at 67% of the people wanting future finance jobs that have some level of an ESG impact or wanting to contribute towards social impact. Now, this survey is not just about this. There's a lot that we have covered. Like you mentioned, entrepreneurial ambitions, also AI-related skills.
We've talked about employer values, mental health.
We've talked about the impact of changing demographics. How many generations are there at the workplace today? And we've talked about workplace and lifestyle patterns. So, finance professionals, in short, want to see a clearer outcome and purpose in their work rather than being seen only as a function or a cog in the wheel.

**Tim Elliott** (2:09)
It's interesting this.
Does this surprise you because, I mean, historically, ESG, you know, environmental, social and governance metrics, were treated, very often treated as kind of PR exercises. It was kind of a nod, wasn't it? Less so now, I admit, but it kind of was that way. So, was it a surprise to you that there was such an emphasis on, you know, I want to make a difference? Because that's really what people are saying.

**Kush Ahuja** (2:38)
Well, the way that people have started thinking about these things has changed. And that is evident through the surveys that we carry out. And if you look at what our finance professionals are doing today in terms of the impact that they are having, we see green bonds or green sococks being issued out here in the Middle East. Now, the finance professionals over there, they're not just calculating interest rates and cash flows, they're also reporting then on auditing carbon reductions.
They're also talking about justifying to global investors that they have got the supply chain ethics in place. So ESG has become a part of the workplace. It's not something that you do outside the workplace, it's integrated into the work. And as more and more people see that it's important, it's obviously more important to Generation Z and we can see that through the survey.

**Tim Elliott** (3:27)
I guess it makes sense. I mean, the survey shows that over a third of regional accountants are already tackling climate and social impact issues within their roles. But I read that and I thought, well, how does that look on a day-to-day level? What does that actually translate to?

**Kush Ahuja** (3:47)
So when I come to the workplace, I'm not just coming there to look at doing a particular role or, let's say, delivering on a particular report.
The generation today is more conscious that what is the impact that this is having overall on the company, the direction that company is taking. So when I look at the respondents, an overwhelming three-fourth of them have talked about social and human rights as a factor for the factor that do they even want to work for that employer if this is not a part of the employer values? 58% of the respondents have actually talked about environmental concerns, saying that we want to make sure that our employer is environmentally savvy. And this goes up to 82% when you look at only Generation Z, that they want to look at the organization's social reputation.
So in today's day and age, it's not just the employer who's interviewing the candidates. It's the candidates who are also looking at what does the employer stand for? What are some of their values? What are they espousing? Does this align with who I am as a person? And we frequently see many top-tier graduates and professionals, they're willing to take a small cut on their salary, but go for the right employer. So, while there's a lot of information out on candidates, there's even more out on companies. And I think companies will need to stand up and take notice of that if they want to continue attracting the right set of people.