Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta might be one of the best places in the country to work, at least according to a survey of Gen Z.
The National Society of High School Scholars recently released its 2024 career interest survey, revealing the health industry is the second-most preferred employer this year.
“The impact of COVID-19 is clear to see when looking at Gen Z’s career aspirations, with 46% of respondents interested in going into medicine or health-related fields,” according to the report. “Engineering and science were the next highest interests at 18% respectively. When looking at potential employers, the most important factors are fair treatment of employees (28%), work-life balance (25%) and corporate social responsibility (14%).
“On top of health benefits (72%) Gen Z also values their personal time, with time-off (63%) and flexible work schedules (61%) as the most valued compensation and benefits,” the report continued. “They are also keeping an eye on their next career move and seek out employers who will invest in them, with professional development opportunities (86%) and clear pathways to promotion (44%) as the most sought-after work experiences.”
The top four preferred employers were health care systems, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta taking 12th place. Children’s beat out some heavy hitters that often market to teenagers, including Netflix (15th), Nintendo (20), DreamWorks (21), Universal Studios (24), the NFL (44th) and Instagram (48).
Atlanta Health Systems ranked 37th, just below Blue Cross and Blue Shield. CNN finished 66th, with the Atlanta-based Wellstar Health System coming in 69th.
“Gen Z prefers working for large corporations over small/family businesses,” according to the report. “Unsurprisingly, given the interest in medical professions, working at a medical facility or institution is in the top three. Interest in entrepreneurship is high, with almost one out of five (18%) interested in being freelancers or self-employed and 11% wanting to work for a startup. At number four was a desire to work for a government organization.”
For its 15th edition of the survey, the academic honor society issued a self-administered online questionnaire to more than 10,000 academically high performing Gen Z students from across the country, which averaged 3.72 GPAs. Around 86% of the participants were high school students. The respondents were 42% white, 18% Latino, 14% Black, 9% Asian American and 10% multiracial.
About the Author
