Which Company Is the Top Choice for Employment Among the MZ Generation?..."Companies Guaranteeing Work-Life Balance"

The MZ generation (people in their 20s and 30s) most preferred companies that guarantee work-life balance (WLB) as the type of company they want to work for.

On the 10th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced the results of a 'Corporate (Individual) Perception Survey' conducted by the polling agency Monoresearch targeting 827 people in their 20s and 30s. The survey showed that companies guaranteeing work-life balance (36.6%) were ranked first as the most desirable companies to work for. Next were companies with well-established salary and performance reward systems (29.6%), companies offering stable long-term employment such as retirement age guarantees (16.3%), companies with high potential for both corporate and personal growth (10.4%), companies with a horizontal corporate culture and good communication (3.8%), and companies with high social contribution (3.3%). This reflects a shift in perception that values personal life more than salary and retirement security.

Regarding the preferred leadership style of management, 8 out of 10 chose ‘communicative type’ (77.9%). In contrast, the ‘charismatic type,’ which makes quick decisions based on strong charisma, accounted for 13.9%, and the ‘delegative type,’ which delegates authority to employees and grants autonomy in work processing, accounted for 8.2%. In fact, the MZ generation also identified ‘strengthening communication among members within the company’ (37.2%) as the most necessary factor to enhance the positive image of companies.

Regarding the recent active communication efforts by young executives with the MZ generation, 70.2% evaluated them as ‘positive,’ which was significantly higher than the ‘negative’ evaluation (7.9%). The FKI stated, “The MZ generation seems to value ‘communication’ among corporate members more than the traditional roles of companies such as production, investment, and job creation,” and predicted that companies will need to make more active communication efforts to embrace the MZ generation, who are the future leaders.

Regarding thoughts about Korean companies, the proportion of respondents with a favorable impression was generally higher than those with an unfavorable impression. Favorability was highest for large corporations (favorability 64.4%, unfavorability 7.1%), followed by mid-sized companies (favorability 51.2%, unfavorability 7.8%), public enterprises (favorability 46.6%, unfavorability 17.4%), startups (favorability 38.0%, unfavorability 15.5%), and small and medium-sized enterprises (favorability 21.1%, unfavorability 36.1%).

Lee Sang-yoon, head of the CSR division at FKI, said, “It appears that the younger generation generally has a positive view of Korean companies.” He added, “However, although Korean companies are actively engaged in social contribution and ESG management activities, many people are not well aware of this. If companies make more active communication efforts and receive greater interest and support from society, it will be a great strength for Korean companies.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.