Money is Not Enough: University Students Personify New Economics of "The Canadian Dream"

TORONTO, December 8, 2000 - A landmark Royal Bank study conducted by Ipsos-Reid suggests that money is not enough to attract the current crop of university students to a company: This well-balanced and confident group of young people is as attracted to challenging work responsibilities and flexible workplaces as it is to the almighty dollar.

The survey of 3,006 students at 20 universities shows 79 per cent will enter the workforce immediately after finishing their schooling and eight of 10 want careers (81 per cent). The ambitious young scholars are most attracted to "interesting" vocations (81 per cent), not just high-paying occupations (19 per cent), with their sights firmly set on starting annual salaries averaging $46,145 for undergraduates ($57,301 for graduate students), with expectations to earn $68,084 by 2005 ($81,052 -- graduate students), $170,004 by 2020 ($177,908 -- graduate students) and $264,041 by retirement ($246,306 -- graduate students). Surprisingly, the survey found that the dot-com craze appeals to only 22 per cent of students as a career option. Many (43 per cent) aspire to be executives at large companies and nearly one in four (24 per cent) would prefer to work at a company of more than 500 employees.

University students at large want time to smell the roses, the survey found. Seven of 10 (70 per cent) would prefer to work regular hours for a longer period of time, balancing work-life interests. This preference was clearly favoured over a career with long hours over a shorter work period and earning a lot more money, with more leisure time afterwards (30 per cent). One in four says he or she is "family focused," with 30 per cent saying they expect to be "married, have two kids and drive a mini-van." They want time to enjoy dream homes (45 per cent), travel extensively (45 per cent) and volunteer in the community (43 per cent).

A new entrepreneurial vision
The survey provides a compelling blueprint of university students' career intentions and expectations for Canadian employers focused on recruiting and retaining top talent in the New Economy. In short, Canada's university students want it all and 81 per cent are confident their education will pay off in the long run, with 16 per cent believing they will become millionaires.

"Dot-coms may not be students' favourite career prospect, but entrepreneurial logic is certainly shaping traditional workplace values and expectations," said Elisabetta Bigsby, executive vice-president, Royal Bank.

"This study is clear. To be considered an employer of choice, companies must provide choices for their employees," Bigsby said. "Our findings suggest students are very optimistic and fully aware of market forces that can help them leverage a satisfying work-life balance. They embody a new version of The Canadian Dream."

"Money is not enough to attract today's students to companies," added John Wright, senior vice-president, Ipsos-Reid. "Competitive salaries and benefits are seen to be the price of entry for companies actively recruiting from campuses. They are now just a foundation for a compensation package that only begins to address employers' growing concern about the scarcity of skilled talent."

The challenges
Canada's companies need to take advantage of current economic prosperity by meeting at least three challenges:

• Rapid technological change fueling the demand for high-tech employees;
• Demographic shifts creating a shortfall of skilled and experienced workers, as baby boomers retire; and
• Workplace attitudes tending not to reward - and in some cases penalizing - employee loyalty.

While Canada's unemployment rate nears a 25-year low of 6.9 per cent, the country's workforce participation rate reached a nine-year high of 66 per cent in November, according to Statistics Canada. The latest Bank of Canada quarterly review expresses concerns that the nation's shrinking pool of skilled workers is pressuring the economy's capacity to produce more goods. In many cases, companies and industry associations are forming school and university partnerships to fill vacancies.

"CEOs in Canada put attracting and retaining employees at the top of their agenda," Wright said. "Six of 10 CEOs say that it is getting harder and harder to find right-skilled employees to fill needed positions."

"Canadian students are entering the New Economy with their eyes and expectations wide open," Bigsby added. The surveys found that about three of five students surveyed believe they will change jobs at least three times in their careers. "Successful employers are not only being asked to provide challenging careers, but diverse opportunities as well," Bigsby said. "Either through promotion or transfer, today's graduates will be attracted to employers that offer careers with a variety of experiences."

Other highlights of Royal Bank's study include:

Who are they?
78 per cent of university students surveyed were enrolled in an undergraduate program and 22 per cent were in a graduate degree program; 90 per cent were full-time enrollees; and students' studies were focused in business or commerce (20 per cent) and the arts (20 per cent).

Attitudes toward career, family and the future
Students are clear about their careers, education and lifestyle, expressing preferences that reflect stable economic growth and opportunity. Only nine per cent said they are uncertain about their career direction; only 25 per cent say "an undergraduate degree is no longer sufficient to get any kind of decent job;" 37 per cent of students older than 27 years already have children; and only 13 per cent believe they will make lots of money from an IPO or through stock options;

28 per cent say it's more important to work for a good boss, than a good company; only 16 per cent favour working for a "cool company" over a well-paying company; and eight per cent say they would like to work for themselves.

What they want to be
53 per cent are "very interested" in working temporarily outside of Canada and 33 per cent are "somewhat interested" in stints elsewhere in the world.

University students' ranking of career desirability shows they are most interested in becoming: entrepreneurs or consultants (40 per cent); lawyers or other professionals (36 per cent); teachers (31 per cent); technology workers (23 per cent); filmmakers, musicians, artists or writers (22 per cent); doctors/physicians (21 per cent); directors of not-for-profit agencies (20 per cent); computer programmers (15 per cent); stock brokers (13 per cent); politicians (11 per cent); and commissioned sales people (two per cent).

24 per cent say they will spend five years at their first job; 15 per cent say three years, 15 per cent say two years; and four per cent say one year; nine per cent say six to 10 years; and just two per cent say 31 to 50 years. 22 per cent say they will change jobs three times in their careers; 17 per cent say five times; and 14 per cent say four times. Two per cent they may change jobs 11 times, or more; four per cent said 10 times.

Where they want to work
29 per cent would prefer to work for a company with 100 to 500 employees; 31 per cent for a medium-sized company; and no one expressed a preference for working for a small company of less than 20 employees;

When asked about specific companies where students would prefer to work, the most desirable were Nortel (36 per cent), Microsoft (35 per cent) and Royal Bank (31 per cent). For a generation that grew up seeing dramatic reductions in government ranks in Canada and the U.S., 28 per cent said they were interested in working in the public sector.

How to find a job
Despite the influx of career Web sites and other job-search tools, 65 per cent of students say the most effective way to look for jobs is "using contacts or who you know"; 39 per cent prefer to look for work at campus recruitment seminars; 26 per cent use corporate Web sites; 22 per cent search employment Web sites; 21 per cent prefer career fairs; while 16 per cent turn to print media advertisements.

What attracts them to a workplace
When choosing a place to work, students place equal importance on organizations that provide opportunities to learn and support professional development (41 per cent) and on making a choice based on salary (41 per cent). Similarly, a company's vision and mission (32 per cent) and support of work-life balance (32 per cent) ranked as high priorities in selecting a place to work.

What is important to students in a job?
51 per cent say "experience a variety of tasks and opportunities"; 44 per cent say "challenging work responsibilities"; 36 per cent say job security; 36 per cent say opportunities for promotion; 18 per cent say "direct responsibility over tasks"; and 15 per cent say interesting co-workers.

Benefits and Compensation
As if to emphasize the bonus-based entrepreneurial spirit that seems to have swept the business world, 67 per cent would rather have an average salary with an opportunity for bonus or compensation based on performance. 75 per cent of students would take a 10 per cent cut in salary in exchange for medical and dental coverage of all basic expenses; 61 per cent of students would accept a 10 per cent pay decrease in exchange for employer-paid job training; 57 per cent would take a pay cut for flexible work hours; and 56 per cent would take less money for job security.

Methodology
The survey was conducted by Ipsos-Reid via the Internet among a self-selected sample of 3,006 university students in Canada. Advertisements were placed in 20 university newspapers advertising the survey with incentives offered for participation. The study was conducted between September 13, 2000 and October 10, 2000. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1.8 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. The margin for error will be larger within geographic regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

The Ipsos Group is the fastest growing public opinion and market research company in the world, and the only company of its size that is owned and managed by research professionals. Its capabilities extend over five continents and 24 countries, with a network of over 2,000 full-time researchers and extensive lines of analytical techniques and data collection resources.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) is a diversified global financial services group and a leading provider of personal and commercial banking, investment and trust services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, online banking and transaction-based services including custody. The group's main business units include Royal Bank, RBC Dominion Securities, Royal Investment Services, RBC Insurance and Global Integrated Solutions. The group has 49,000 employees who serve 10 million personal, business and public sector customers in 30 countries. For more information, visit Royal Bank's Web site at www.royalbank.com.

For more information contact:
Joe Konecny
Media Relations
Royal Bank
(416) 974-4794