Millennials fancy healthcare, tech jobs

Eight healthcare organizations landed on list of 25 choice places to work
By Bernie Monegain
10:09 AM

Healthcare and technology jobs have the most appeal to Generation Y, according to the sixth annual Millennial Career Survey, published May 13 by the National Society of High School Scholars, an international honor society organization based in Atlanta. Generation Y, also known as millennials, are generally described as the 50 million people now between ages 18 and 30, the children of baby boomers or older members of Generation X.

Google and Apple arrived near the top of the list of millennials’ favored places to work, indicating a proclivity for all things digital, but not at No. 1.

The top slot went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which beat out other big healthcare names, Mayo Clinic at 11 and Kaiser Permanente at 22. “Local hospital” came in at No. 3. Health Care Service Corp., the largest customer-owned health insurer in the country took No. 8, while Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston ranked No. 9.

In all, eight healthcare organizations landed among the top 25 choices, which also included well-known brands such as Disney, Starbucks and Abercrombie & Fitch, as well as a few government agencies.

The late Danny Thomas, a comedian and TV actor, founded St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 1962 in Memphis, Tenn. His daughter actor Marlo Thomas keeps the hospital in the public eye, serving as national outreach director.

The St. Jude choice seems to belie reports – the most recent a cover story in Time Magazine – that refers to the group as the “Me, Me, Me Generation.”

“Millennials like to have real-world impact, and St. Jude provides an ability every day to help find cures for children with cancer and make a difference in the lives of families,” said William E. Evans, St. Jude director and CEO, in a news release. “We work hard to have a culture of compassion, collaboration, innovation and quality in all we do. Millennials tend to be very interactive and social people, so our culture and ideals ring true.”

NSHSS surveyed more than 9,000 high school students, college students and young professionals who have been recognized for their academic achievements by the organization and asked them to rank their preferred companies to work for from a list of more than 220 companies. NSHSS asked the students to rank their top three preferences from a list generated from Fortune's Top 100 Companies to Work For from 2012 and 2013; from DiversityInc's list of top 50 companies to work for in 2012 and 2013; and write-in choices.

“As for what they hope to find in the workplace, they ranked fair treatment, corporate social responsibility and benefits the highest,” Susan Thurman, director of the NSHSS scholarship program, said when she released the survey. “They demonstrate a strong confidence about being able to enter the workforce quickly in their fields, demonstrating a strong optimism about their career expectations.”

James W. Lewis and Claes Nobel, senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes, founded NSHSS in 2002.

The top 25 places Millennials selected are listed on next page.

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