#Diogenedixit

Some traits are common to all young people in the three areas of interest:

• They have less trust in institutions, politics and governments.
• They attach less importance to religion.
• Their concerns relate to environmental issues, economic aspects (employment, wages, cost of living, etc.), and social questions (poverty, inequality, education, health).
• They express dissatisfaction, uncertainty, and anxiety about the future.

In general, here are the main values that characterize the Under 36s:

1. Benevolence, which they demonstrate by promoting the welfare of people they have frequent contact with; they also express mutual care and trustworthiness.
2. Social universalism, meaning they show understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protection for all people, as well as a strong sense of justice and equality.
3. Self-determination, in other words, they can count on independence of thought and action, freedom and creativity (ANSA, 2023).

The search for work-life balance seems complex, but it constitutes a primary need for young people, as demonstrated by the worldwide phenomenon of The Great Resignation, which led huge numbers of people to quit their jobs in both Italy and the United States, impacting about two out of three companies. The search for work-life balance is one of the main drivers of this phenomenon, even more so for GenZ and Millennials (58% and 52% respectively, compared to 41% and 40% of older workers), who would leave a job that does not fit with their personal life. Among the main reasons for American Gen Zers to resign is unsatisfactory pay, while in Italy they’re searching for recognition and skill enhancement (Centro Studi Imprese Territorio, 2022; IPSOA, 2023). The phenomenon of burnout is also an increasingly topical issue among the younger generation. The main causes for burnout include an excessive workload, an unsatisfactory work-life balance, an inadequate corporate culture, and the inability to express one's values in the workplace (Network Digital 360, 2022). With a higher incidence among young people, we also see the even more worrying phenomenon of quiet quitting, which consists of minimal commitment and productivity in the workplace, a sign of progressive emotional and professional detachment. Young people recognize work as playing an instrumental role in affirming their value identity. Compared to previous generations, in fact, they want to be part of an organization that aligns with their values, one to which they develop a strong sense of belonging. Indeed, a chief reason why young people turn down job offers or decide to quit is that one or both of these aspects are missing.

Environmental issues also figure into the decision-making processes of the younger generation in a relevant way: about 50% of Gen Z and Millennials say they ask about a company's environmental impacts and policies before accepting a job offer. Corporate culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion are also questions that notably affect young people's job satisfaction: for 83%, DE&I is a crucial aspect in the workplace, and 33% say they would not apply for a position that does not take these values into consideration (Deskbird, 2023).

The topic of artificial intelligence (AI), whose potential is widely recognized among young people around the world, was also explored. Most believe that AI will profoundly change daily routines in the next three to five years, making life easier. In particular, 52% and 48% of Millennials and Gen Z, respectively, see AI as beneficial to their career advancement because it can provide faster access to knowledge. But a minor share of young people is concerned about the impact AI could have on the workplace, especially when it comes to more purely operational activities.

The results of qualitative research

In continuing our analysis, we focused exclusively on the C&IB sector. Given the rather disheartening outlook for the Under 36 cohort that the desk analysis gave us, our goal was to understand whether and to what extent the phenomena that emerged overlapped with the subset of young people in C&IB as well. For this reason, we started with an exploratory analysis, conducted through in-depth interviews on a sample of 19 young people (12 men and 7 women) between 24 and 36 years of age, working in different trades and segments of Corporate & Investment Banking in 11 different banks (including the Intesa Sanpaolo-IMI CIB Division) in Milan, London and New York.

The interviews, transcribed simultaneously, were processed through content analysis software (Nvivo 11), which enabled the researchers to objectify the analysis and precisely pinpoint cause-effect relationships. Regarding the object of our study, we started by exploring the values, concerns, and priorities of the young people in our sample. Other topics were the industry's attractiveness factors and drivers for evaluating various players, the industry's accessibility and candidate journeys, and young people's expectations of C&IB and the industry's ability to meet them.

Chain half-fines and C&IB youth

Particularly constructive for the purposes investigating the values of C&IB youth was the use of synthesis models such as the means-end chain. The classic application of this tool shows how value is generated through the attributes associated with a given brand by reconstructing the hierarchy of cognitive links (the memory network) that connects these attributes to the individual’s affective sphere.

In this research, the means-end chain (Figure 2) was applied to C&IB to reveal how value can be generated through the attributes connoted with this industry in the minds of young people who work there. This approach allows us to reconstruct their memory networks. Then the constituent associations were classified into three levels of abstraction, each one building on the one before:

1. C&IB attributes
2. the outcomes associated with these attributes (i.e., the benefits derived from C&IB)
3. the personal values that reflect the goals pursued by the individuals in our sample in terms of both behavior, social consideration, self-esteem, and quality of life

By applying the means-ends chain, we found a very healthy set of terminal values characterizing C&IB, including: freedom, excitement, social approval, security, pleasure, self-esteem, self-respect, and the chance to save the world (that is, the ability of people working in C&IB to make the world a better place). These aspects are related to the instrumental values or behaviors that C&IB youth share: honesty, responsibility, open-mindedness, ability, courage, ambition, self-control, and solidarity.

In light of the evidence that has emerged, the first area of intervention on the means-end chain involves consolidating the connections between the concrete and abstract attributes of C&IB and their consequences, typically through targeted communication actions involving all the sub-roles of the Promotion lever. This consolidation, which over time may be complemented by creating new attribute-benefit connections, implies deepening and extending C&IB knowledge. What’s more, the sub-area in question can contribute further to the value production processes activated by young people in the entry and start-up stages of the profession. From this perspective, the ability to strengthen attribute-benefit linkages highlights the prominent role that C&IB and associated sectors play as far as creating and disseminating a culture that can live up to the opportunities promised to candidates entering the field.

A second fundamental area of intervention relates to increasing the degree of abstraction of the means-end chain by identifying the cognitive links that connect C&IB to a specific set of instrumental and terminal values. This is a decisive step in developing C&IB relationship quality, which is based on an alignment between the identity of C&IB and the identity of the young person working in it. Indeed, when young professionals appreciate C&IB's contribution to developing and communicating their value systems and self-concepts, this engenders feelings of passion, attachment, and self-identification. These emotions in turn fuel the affective and cognitive dimensions of C&IB relationship quality, giving rise to a sense of interdependence and commitment. The abstraction of the means-end chain is a key driver in promulgating the potential of C&IB. Indeed, by extending the correlation between C&IB knowledge and self-knowledge, the industry broadens its competitive horizons. In this sense, the capital generated by C&IB (consisting in knowledge and satisfaction) acts as a cognitive common denominator that can foster the aggregation and co-evolution of meanings produced by young people working in the industry.

Ultimately, implementing the outputs of the means-end chain is a path to establishing a real and virtual community among those working in C&IB. Here the knowledge and experience they share (the informational dimension) goes hand in hand with developing new relationships and strengthening of individual and collective identity (the participatory dimension).

The results of the quantitative analysis

The quantitative analysis was carried out with the help of the CAWI-CATI method and involved a large sample (n. 424) of young people aged between 24 and 36 – made up of 12.5% GenZ (between 24 and 26 years old) and 87.5% Millennials (between 27 and 36 years old) – working in the C&IB sector in Milan, London and New York, divided equally between the IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa Sanpaolo (24 banks).

Research shows that wars, environmental sustainability, and health are concerns shared by all young people, whether or not they work in C&IB. Ongoing conflicts, and their consequent impact on economic and political stability at a national and global level, are the main source of anxiety for C&IB youth. As for the issue of health, which is certainly linked to environmental sustainability, this ranks as the second biggest concern, right after war. Brexit apprehension is a generalized feeling, but one limited to the UK and not particularly relevant in C&IB.

Some concerns are common to GenZ and Millennials in general but not reported by young people working in C&IB. 

• The development of technology (AI) and its impact on work: In C&IB, digitization and artificial intelligence, rather than eliciting apprehension, are seen as an opportunity for skill development.
• Mental health: Unlike their peers, young people in C&IB, while reporting role fatigue, don’t refer to phenomena such as the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, and burnout, showing strong determination and resilience with respect to the commitment they’ve made. (But we do know that they have to resolve the issue of work-life balance after the first few years of work.) Indeed, the quantitative analysis shows that, overall, only 34% of young people working in C&IB report more work engagement than expected.
• Unemployment: On a general level, a profile emerges of young people who are doubtful about finding employment that will enhance their skills. C&IB youth, instead, appear satisfied with their remuneration for the most part; they often feel gratified by their professional experiences.
• Terrorism, violence, crime, and immigration are prevalent concerns among American and British youth in general, but not C&IB professional specifically.
• Political/financial corruption are more common concerns among young Italians but again not cited by C&IB youth. 

With respect to values, the most important commonality between young people in general and those who work in C&IB is freedom, understood among the latter group as the ability to freely express one's thoughts and to act without constraint, stemming from the opportunity for self-determination on the job thanks to increased flexibility.

Young people working in C&IB also seem even more motivated than the general youth population by the ambition to "make it," so values that distinguish them are motivation and excitement, the latter meaning enthusiasm for the challenging situations the find themselves facing. The value of safety also unites all young people, whether or not they are active in C&IB. However, while in this industry it represents an acquired goal (albeit somewhat more volatile for people who work in London), for the rest of the youth population it’s more of a wish, so they also list safety among their concerns.

A distinctive value of young people working in C&IB is self-respect, the most important by far, followed by self-esteem. According to the means-end-chain analysis, self-respect appears to be closely related to behaviors and instrumental values typical of the C&IB sector and the people working in it, such as honesty, responsibility, ability, self-control, and courage. Conformity and tradition, on the other hand, are not characteristic of C&IB youth, while they are found among young people in general.

We should also draw a distinction around the themes of environmental and social universalism, values commonly shared among young people, which in C&IB translate into a sense of "protagonism" fueled by the opportunity to "contribute to making the world a better place." In the breakdown by country, our quantitative analysis showed that the four values most relevant to young people in C&IB (self-respect, freedom, self-esteem, and excitement) appear in all three nations, with self-respect ranking first. However, some local differences do emerge: while excitement is a peculiarity of C&IB youth in both London and Milan, freedom does not figure among the top three values for Londoners, giving way to self-esteem.

Cluster analysis

Three clusters of C&IB youth emerged from our research. Upstream, via factor analysis, we traced 32 items to five clusters:

1. Remuneration and Flexibility (bonuses, work-life balance, working hours, etc.)
2. Skills and Experience (international experience, ability to interface with experienced professionals, a challenging environment, etc.)
3. Coolness of C&IB, in terms of status and career (the thrill of feeling like you’re the control room and participating in operations that impact the fate of countless others; the belief that it’s a high-profile job)
4. Culture and Brand Prestige (which applies to your bank and your team)
5. Environmental and Social Sustainability (with a focus on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion issues)

The factors above allowed us to take reams of complex data and simplify them, facilitating the process of interpretation.

We pared down the initial five clusters to come up with three which are pertinent to C&IB youth.  Below we detail these clusters (Figure 4) in terms of sociodemographic traits, behaviors, attitudes toward C&IB, and values. They offer salient insights for tailoring HR activities to target young people:

• Experience Seekers (26%)

Unimpressed by industry coolness, career (in the sense of a successful career path) or status, they seem more interested in the professional considerations stemming from a C&IB experience: a fast track to growth, unique experiences, team culture and composition, types of deals, and international opportunities. More than 60% are under 31 years old, just starting out in their careers (55% have less than three years of experience), and mainly work as Analysts or Associates.

• C&IB Lovers (56%)

Here are the true enthusiasts. They’re focused on career opportunities and success in an industry they consider cool, and they’re sensitive to the culture of bank and team prestige in addition to social and environmental sustainability issues. They show a real passion and ambition for working in C&IB, a factor that makes them relatively less interested in compensation and job flexibility. Women are well represented (45%), with even distribution in Milan, London and New York. With more experience, we find more people from this cluster in Associate to Managing Director roles.

• Money Hunters (16%)

Disillusioned with their initial expectations, they now look to C&IB without the enthusiasm that distinguishes the other two clusters. Their motivation focuses almost exclusively on compensation, benefits, and work flexibility; they show little interest in training, corporate culture, or brand/team prestige. Sensitivity to sustainability issues is also very low. This is the oldest cluster (58% are over 32) and has the greatest professional longevity in C&IB, but with limited career growth: 55% still work as Analysts or Associates, often in staff positions.