Millennials attracted to companies with strong cultures of giving

A new study from TELUS shows Canadians give back more when companies encourage volunteerism.

TORONTO — A new survey finds that Canadians love volunteering and are even more likely to give time when their employer supports the effort. The data, released by TELUS today, reveals Canadians are more likely to volunteer when the companies they work for organize group volunteer activities. Yet, only 2-in-5 say their current company organizes volunteer events in which employees can participate. When applying for jobs, 1-in-2 working Canadians say it’s important that the company organizes volunteer events in their local community.

“Volunteering and giving back to the communities where we live, work and play is part of TELUS’ DNA,” says Jill Schnarr, Vice President Community Investment and Corporate Marketing, TELUS. “We’re proud to have such a strong culture of giving, and have learned over the years that our team members are the most engaged when they are able to pursue causes that are important to them. This study reaffirms what we’ve found at TELUS: organizations have much to gain in terms of attracting and retaining talent by fostering a culture of volunteerism.”

The survey also reveals the connection millennials have to helping those in need. Data supports the idea that most millennials want to volunteer and give back to their communities. They feel especially passionate about volunteering given current world events, specifically over the past year. However, millennials volunteer less than older Canadians. In the last year, millennials volunteered an average of 65 hours, compared to 86 hours for Gen Xers, 119 hours for Baby Boomers and 120 hours for those of the Greatest Generation.

When asked what deters them from volunteering more, 62 per cent of millennials blame their busy schedules. While millennials are the most likely generation to admit that having to take time off work has prevented them from volunteering, they are more likely to volunteer through their workplace than their older peers. This rings true at TELUS, where millennials make up 51 per cent of the employees who volunteer through company initiatives.

Other key findings include:

• Lack of time is the greatest barrier for Canadians when it comes to volunteering, with 47 per cent saying that not having enough time in their schedule has prevented them from volunteering and a quarter saying that having to take time off work has prevented them from volunteering. Western Canadians claim they are the busiest, with 52 per cent saying they don’t have time to volunteer, compared to 49 per cent of Ontarians and 35 per cent of Quebecois.

• The majority of Canadians currently working or looking for work would be more likely to volunteer if their employer took initiative to organize activities. Seventy-eight per cent said they would be more likely to volunteer if their company gave them time off work to volunteer, and 76 per cent would be more likely to volunteer if their company organized an event to support a specific charity.

• 3-in-5 Canadians say it’s important that the companies they apply to work at partner with non-profit organizations and help provide fundraising support. Ontarians care most about this, with 67 per cent saying it’s important, compared to 58 per cent in Quebec and 56 per cent in the West. Only 34 per cent of Quebecois say their company encourages employees to volunteer, compared with 43 per cent in Ontario and 42 per cent in Western Canada.

• Canadians are most willing to support causes related to disease and illness, with half of respondents saying they would consider supporting through donations, volunteering, or advocating on social media. Causes related to hunger, poverty and youth followed. Millennials are more likely than older Canadians to support children and youth-related causes and causes related to the environment, nature, and conservation. Nearly 1-in-2 Greatest Generation Canadians (49 per cent) and Baby Boomers (45 per cent) are willing to support causes related to elderly individuals compared to 26 per cent of Gen X’ers and millennials.

Volunteerism has been integral to TELUS’ corporate culture since 2000. Through groundbreaking initiatives like TELUS Days of Giving and TELUS Community Ambassadors, current employees, retirees, and their friends and families have the opportunity to volunteer in their communities all year long.

Rather than a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to workplace volunteering, TELUS empowers employees to identify and support causes that are most important to them, and as a result, the company supports diverse local organizations in health, education and the environment. The TELUS team volunteered 870,000 hours in 2016 alone and has volunteered more than 7.7 million hours in their local communities since 2000.

Thanks to their highly engaged team, TELUS has pledged to volunteer one million hours in local communities this year in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. To date, TELUS team members have recorded 500,000 volunteer hours. To learn more, visit telus.com/millionhours.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $13 billion of annual revenue and 12.8 million subscriber connections, including 8.7 million wireless subscribers, 1.7 million high-speed Internet subscribers, 1.3 million residential network access lines and 1.1 million TELUS TV customers.

TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video. TELUS is also Canada's largest healthcare IT provider, and TELUS International delivers business process solutions around the globe.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed over $482 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 7.7 million hours of service to local communities since 2000.

Created in 2005 by President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS’ 12 Canadian community boards and 5 International boards have led the Company’s support of grassroots charities and have contributed more than $60 million in support of 5,595 local charitable projects, enriching the lives of more than 2 million children and youth, annually.

TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Liz Sauvé
TELUS Media Relations
(604) 719-6715
[email protected]