67% of young Brits would choose causes NOT cash when it comes to careers

Young British adults are increasingly setting their career sights on purpose driven professions that aim to solve the world’s biggest societal and environmental issues according to a new study released today.

The research reveals that new and emerging roles such as Virologist (48%) Sustainable Fashion Designer (40%) and Accessible Architects (35%) are among the roles that get Gen-Z’s excited as they turn away
from roles their parents aimed for in favour of jobs that help improve the world.

The research study of 2,000 young people aged between 16 and 25 was commissioned by Samsung UK to mark the re-launch of their Solve for Tomorrow initiative for 2023.

The programme aims to champion young people and their ideas on using tech for good to solve society’s issues along four pillars: Sustainability, Education, Diversity Equality and Inclusion, and Social Isolation.

The top 10 careers of the future:

1.
Virologist/Immunologist – 48%

2.
Sustainable Fashion Designer – 40%

3.
Accessible Design/ Architecture – 36%

4.
Wave Producers – 35%

5.
Cyber Threat Hunter – 28%

6.
Body Part Engineer – 27%

7.
Cultured Meat Engineer – 27%

8.
Vaccine Developer – 26%

9.
Nanotechnologist – 21%

10.
Forest Firefighter and Prevention Specialist – 20%

The findings shed new light on the changing perspectives of the youth of today towards their future career goals. The aftermath of the pandemic factored into job choices with careers such as Virologist and
Vaccine Developer making the list.

Eight in 10 (81%) of the respondents were keen to work in an occupation that could help to solve environmental and societal issues. Indeed, environmental focused jobs topped the list as young people worry
about the future of the planet with 95% admitting to being concerned about global warming and sustainability.

The research comes as Samsung UK continues to drive awareness to key issues facing our world via its Solve for Tomorrow competition, a global initiative which celebrates young people who have unique and
extraordinary ideas for how to use technology to solve society’s biggest issues.

Over a third (38%) of participants surveyed said that they would not consider working for a company that did not have purpose at its heart with 88% revealing that they would leave a job if the company did
not match their values.

In addition, eight in 10 (81%) of 16-25-year-olds spend some of their free time researching societal and environmental issues, with 86% of these looking into the technology that could solve these problems.

The pandemic and recent world events highlighted the need to address societal problems, which is why 94% of young Brits feel that UK businesses should be doing more to solve global issues, and 91% would
like to be actively involved with trying to help through purpose-driven careers.

The majority (97%) of those surveyed also felt that they want to become an individual inspiration to succeeding generations through their future career path.

Speaking about the results of the survey, Sophie Edgerley Harris, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Samsung UK said: “Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow initiative aims to champion the voices of our younger
generation and highlight how as society, we can use tech for good to solve societal issues. We’re excited to see what’s to come with the 2023 competition and the innovative ideas shared by entrants.”

The results of the research preface the launch event for Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow 2023, which is set to inspire the next generation of competition applicants.

The event, taking place at Samsung KX on Wednesday 19th October, will see inspirational
talks from the likes of Director Reggie Yates and motivational speaker Harnaam Kaur who join past Solve for Tomorrow winner,
Ramneek Kaur Ahluwalia. Ramneek’s MyVision invention aims to help the visually impaired through a tech-forward mobility aid.