53% of young people proclaim themselves environmentalists and 43% of them declared that they had boycotted a brand or product because they considered that company’s actions to be socially unfair or dangerous. This percentage drops to 37% in the general population. 58% of young people think that a society cannot be fair and just if there are inequalities within it. These are some of the research data ‘GenZ version: the first sustainable native generations tell their story’, That Angelini Industriesan Italian industrial group active in 21 countries with 5,800 employees in the health, industrial technology and consumer goods sectors, promoted on a sample of over 2,500 interviewees, of which 1,600 were young people between 14 and 29 years old.
The research presented at CSR exhibition in Milancreated by Quorum/Youtrend and Csa Research, was born with the aim of listening to young people and communicating with their deepest needs and brought out the thoughts of generation Z on issues such as the future, work and sustainability, comparing it with the mentality prevalent in the rest of the population. Young people are generally more attentive to environmental and social issues, they are critical of the work of previous generations, but they retain trust in the role of institutions: 61% of young people, in fact, identify the lifestyle and economic models adopted from previous generations the cause of the climate crisis and inequalities. 78% of Generation Z also believes that governments can be actors and protagonists of change (compared to 70% of the rest of the population).
“In their choices, i young people above all seek flexibility, clear values and objectives in which they can identify, even when looking for your first job – he observes Isabella Falautano, Group Chief Sustainability Officer of Angelini Industries – They prefer to have more sustainable products in their shopping cart, even spending a few euros more, and are more ready than previous generations for environmental and social activism. Listening to young people and understanding their deepest needs is essential for companies that want to look to the future and be protagonists of it. To involve the workers and consumers of tomorrow, companies must demonstrate a concrete commitment to sustainability and inclusion”.
The new generations, in particular those under 30, represent almost a third (26%) of Angelini Industries’ new hires in 2023, as emerges from the Group’s soon-to-be-published sustainability report. Work-life balance is not enough, young people want to feel fulfilled and involved. Among the aspects that the research has highlighted is the peculiar relationship of Generation Z with work: many young people interviewed, for example, indicate as an important point feeling fulfilled (40% vs 38% of the general population), having prospects of professional and personal growth (19% Vs 16%) and having shared objectives with the work group and the company (15% Vs 10%). In response to the ever-increasing demand from GenZ to have clear development plans, Angelini Industries, through Angelini Academy, the Group’s corporate academy, carries out growth paths dedicated to young people such as the Future Leaders Program, a free European training project and professional development aimed at the inclusion of new talents in managerial roles, promoted in collaboration with Sda Bocconi.
According to Generation Z, the main characteristics that make a company sustainable are its ability to defend the environment (44% vs 41% of the remaining sample), to think about the future and the next generations (30% vs 31%) and the full compliance with rules and laws (29% vs 32%). As for the other characteristics that, according to the sample, a sustainable company must have, it is noted that young people are more attentive to companies respecting the rights and well-being of their workers (26% vs 24%) and to their commitment in defense of weak social categories (17% vs 13%). Generation Z, then, is more sensitive and informed about global warming than the rest of the population and believes it can play an active role in adopting measures and lifestyles that can stop the climate crisis. 63% of young people believe it is likely that the planet will become an uninhabitable place for humanity in their lifetime. 75% of young people believe they are very or fairly informed on the topic, compared to 63% of the general population, and over 90% of them believe the predictions of scientists who identify a critical threshold for the habitability of the planet in exceeding 1 .5 degrees average temperature compared to pre-industrial times. Only 7% of Generation Z are skeptical on this point. This percentage in the general population, however, rises to 35% according to a 2023 Censis survey.
For Angelini Industries, sustainability is expressed transversally and in an integrated way in all the sectors in which it operates, starting from attention to the environment: the first concrete example is the Group’s management headquarters, Casa Angelini, located in Rome for decades and today an example of an urban regeneration project as a technologically innovative and eco-sustainable architectural solution, which has obtained Leed Platinum certification in New Construction; or the Group’s commitment to Zero Waste, through the ever-increasing use of recycled or refillable plastic packaging for its products and the design of innovative solutions such as Greenpackt, the machine developed by Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica to produce recyclable packaging at 100%. The Group can already count on various photovoltaic systems installed in its offices, charging stations for electric cars and constant work to define a decarbonisation strategy, starting from the calculation of the Carbon Footprint and the use of Lca analysis ( Life Cycle Assessment).
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