Do Company Practices Affect the Acceptance of a Job or Assignment?
On Wednesday, July 30, I posted a blog on my “Ethics Sage” blog sight that addresses the ethics of the Big 4 accounting firms and whether candidates for a position with the firms should check out the record of ethics for these firms. I believe, at a minimum, they should examine legal actions filed against the firms.
I discussed the ethical lapses of those firms. My conclusion was that potential employees should devote time to assessing the ethics of potential employers. Ethical lapses, even if not directly impacting audit quality, can have significant reputational and financial consequences for the firms involved, potentially affecting job security and career progression within the firm.
Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Survey
This blog led me to research further and broaden my scope to a larger pool of potential employees in the business school department. Research by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) suggests that Millennials are more likely than Gen Z to reject a job offer if they believe that the company’s ethics and sustainability practices do not align with their own personal values. The results are as follows:
- 27 per cent of millennial prospective students strongly agree that an employer’s ethical and sustainability practices would impact their decision to accept a job offer,
- 19 per cent of Gen Z candidates strongly agree that an employer’s ethical and sustainability practices would impact their decision to accept a job offer.
The report also found that:
- 85 per cent of candidates believe that corporations have a social responsibility to the countries and people that support them, However,
- Only 37 per cent of candidates said they would prefer that global corporations did not get involved in social or political events or conflicts.
The report – Prospective Students Survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) – is in its 15th year and has analyzed data from 4,912 respondents across 147 countries, offering insights into evolving candidate decision-making to guide business school strategies.
Overall, the report found that 68 percent of all potential business school students state that a company’s ethics and sustainability practices would have an influence on whether or not they would accept a job offer.
“It’s often assumed that Gen Z leads the charge on social values, but our findings suggest a more complex picture – millennials are actually more willing to walk away from job offers that don’t align with their ethics,” notes Nalisha Patel, Regional Director for the Americas and Europe at GMAC. “It’s a clear reminder for companies that strong ethics and sustainability practices aren’t just nice to have – they’re essential if they want to attract and retain value-driven talent.”
I have been wondering whether a potential employee can accurately assess the ethics and sustainability practices of a potential employer. It seems to me it is best determined by experiences during an employee’s tenure. In this way, the employee has worked for the employer for a period of time and has become familiar with the employer’s behavior and its decision-making processes. They are, then, more informed and able to evaluate ethics and sustainability practices.
Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey
In support of my beliefs is Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey that surveyed 22,841 respondents from across the globe. In it, 50 percent of Gen Zers and 43 percent of Millennials say they’ve rejected an assignment “based on their personal ethics or beliefs. That’s up from 44 percent and 37 percent, respectively, in last year’s survey. Forty-four percent of surveyed Gen Zers and 40 percent of Millennials say they’ve even rejected a job offer because of their ethics or beliefs–also up from last year. The work experience of Gen Zers puts them in a better position to evaluate the ethics and sustainability of employers than when they first interviewed for a position.
According to the survey, purpose has long been a priority for younger workers–and, for the most part, employers are meeting expectations on that front: 81 percent of Gen Zers and 82 percent of Millennials say that their “current job does give them a sense of purpose.” Approximately 7 in 10 in both generations say their employers’ values “align with their own.”
But, when there is a mismatch, employees are now more likely to act on it. For instance, last year’s survey found that factors like “negative environmental impact” or “contributing to inequality through non-inclusive practices” could lead to these kinds of rejections from young employees.
Thus, the Deloitte report concludes, it’s important for organizations “to not only set and communicate a clear purpose, but to actively listen and respond to its people to ensure employer and employee values remain aligned.”
Why Do Some Employees Reject Assignments?
In another case study, Sarah Lynch, a staff writer for Inc., reports that “when and if an employee rejects an assignment that they say doesn’t align with their values, how leaders handle the situation matters. Employees who ‘experienced a negative outcome when they rejected an assignment’ were less likely to say that they planned to stay at the organization for over five years than employees whose employers ‘reacted affirmatively’–demonstrating the potential impact on retention.”
I have found, from my teaching, that Gen Z is driven by purpose and is just as likely to prioritize meaning over monetary gain. According to TechnologyAdvice, 42% of Gen Z workers would take a pay cut if it meant working a job that has an impact, and 49% would not accept a job at a company that does not align with their values. This is a high mark and may be the reason behind the more frequent job changes we have seen over the past decade or so.
Posted by Dr. Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on August 5, 2025. Steve is the author of Beyond Happiness and Meaning: Transforming Your Life Through Ethical Behavior, which is available on Amazon. Learn more about his activities at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/ and signing up for the newsletter.