Study conducted in 2024 by JobTeaser's GenZ Lab and EDHEC's NewGen Talent Centre among over 10 000 students and recent graduates
Starting careers What European future graduates want in 2025?
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Editorial
Every year, hundreds of thousands young higher education graduates enter the job market. Between the desire for personal fulfillment and the quest for meaning, they are constantly redefining work standards and codes. If their expectations are sometimes complex, their vision of the corporate world is positive but uncompromising: both collaborative but vertical or even captivating but also stressful. Implicitly, it is also a profoundly new concept of career that is emerging based on movement! Future graduates are considering their first position in the short term, already anticipating changes in profession, sector or even a complete reorientation. Is it a fear of commitment or simply a necessary adaptability in the face of a world more uncertain?
Far from caricatures, our study paints the portrait of a generation which does not turn away from business but on the contrary pushes it to reinvent itself. A generation that offers employers who will listen a unique opportunity to rethink their model to remain attractive and competitive.
Happy reading,
Manuelle Malot, Director NewGen Talent Center, EDHEC Business School
Michaël Giaj, Insight Manager, JobTeaser
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Methodology
The Gen Z Lab by JobTeaser and EDHEC's NewGen Talent Center have joined forces and carried out a major European study to decipher the latest trends in future careers of young talents.
The survey was carried out from May 2 to June 10, 2024.
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Countries surveyed
Generation Z
9 332 European students and recent graduates aged 18 to 30 including:
France
Germany
United Kingdom
7 686 students
1 646 young graduates
Belgium Spain
Italy
Luxembourg
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
In 2025, work remains a cardinal value for Generation Z.
Luxembourgish and French young graduates place even greater importance.
Contribution of work to personal fulfillment
European Average
93 %
development? ↗ of European Graduate think their work will contribute to their personal development
To what extent do you think your current or future work will contribute to your personal
Luxembourg
France
Spain
Belgium
Italy
UK
Germany
4
Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Latin European countries, France ahead, have the most positive perception of the corporate world.
Positive perception of the corporate world
European Average
77 %
France
Italy
of European Graduates positively perceive the Corporate world
Spain
Germany
corporate world? ↗
What is your current vision of the
Belgium
Luxembourg
UK
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
In Europe, Business world is seen as captivating and collaborative but also stressful and complicated.
For you, the corporate world is…
Captivating
Collaborative
Stressful
Complicated
79 %
77 %
86 %
81 %
France France
Spain Spain
Spain Spain
Italy Italy
76 %
74 %
85 %
79 %
Luxembourg Luxembourg
Belgium Belgium
Italy Italy
Luxembourg Luxembourg
71 %
71 %
82 %
78 %
Spain Spain
UK UK
UK UK
France
74 %
70 %
71 %
80 %
Italy Italy
Italy Italy
Belgium Belgium
Spain
70 %
62 %
66 %
78 %
Belgium
Luxembourg Luxembourg
France France
Belgium
62 %
66 %
76 %
66 %
UK
France France
Luxembourg Luxembourg
Germany
59 %
55 %
65 %
63 %
Germany
Germany
Germany
UK
What is your current vision of the corporate world? ↗
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Work-life balance is the key aspiration of European young Graduates.
Top 10 expectations for a next job
European Average
1
6
7
2
8
3
9
4
5
10
What do you expect from your future job? ↗
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
In most countries work-life balance is the most important criteria.
German value more Remuneration whereas French value Caring environment.
Top 3 expectations per country (Very important)
Belgium
France
Germany
Italy
Work-life balance (62%)
Caring environment (63%)
Remuneration (55%)
Work-life balance (64%)
1
1
1
1
Meaningful work (61%)
Good team relations (62%)
Caring environment (50%)
Remuneration (57%)
2
2
2
2
Caring Environment (58%)
Work-life balance (61%)
Good team relations (50%)
Good team relations (56%)
3
3
3
3
Luxembourg
Spain
UK
Work-life balance (69%)
Work-life balance (66%)
Work-life balance (65%)
1
1
1
Good teams relations (68%)
Good team relations (63%)
Good team relations (65%)
2
2
2
What do you expect from your future job? ↗
Remuneration (67%)
Remuneration (60%)
Remuneration (62%)
3
3
3
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Whether by choice or by necessity, fixed-term contracts are no longer the only option for European students.
Spanish and Italian students in particular prefer other types of contract.
Most popular contract type for future graduates
European Average
50 %
of European graduates favour another type than long term contract
Following your studies, what type of pro- fessional contract seems most interesting to you for your first job? (Student base) ↗
Luxembourg
France
Belgium
Germany
UK
Spain
Italy
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Once in their roles, European graduates want to specialize in a specific field.
Top expectations for Career development
European Average
How do you see your career development in the coming years? ↗
10
Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
In most of countries European graduate favour small and medium companies.
Most popular company size for graduates
in in priority ? ↗
Luxembourg
Germany
Belgium Spain
France
Italy
UK
What size of company would you like to work
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Young talents aim for only one year for their first position.
France
Belgium
Germany
European Average
18 months
15 months
12 months
12 months Ideal median duration for a first position
Spain
Italy
Luxembourg
12 months
12 months
12 months
UK
12 months
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
Over the long term, professional reorientation is already a strong consideration, by choice or by constraint.
By personal choice (reorientation, new projects, etc.) Consider changing career fields during their career…
By constraint (development of professions, etc.)
56 %
39 %
European Average
European Average
Italy
Italy
United Kingdom
Germany
United Kingdom
Spain
Luxembourg
Spain
France
Luxembourg
Belgium
France
fields during your career? ↗
Germany
Belgium
Do you anticipate having to change professional
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
European graduates, notably ones from the UK, anticipate the profound impact of AI on their job.
AI will profoundly change the way you do your (future) job
Your (future) job may become obsolete in the next few years
28 %
68 %
European Average
European Average
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Italy
Germany
Spain
Spain
Luxembourg
Italy
France
Luxembourg
the way you do your (future) job ↗ obsolete in the next few years ↗
Do you think that... - AI will profoundly change
Belgium
France
Do you think that... - Your (future) job may become
Germany
Belgium
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
In summary
A rather positive and fulfilling vision of work
The ideal first role in 2025
Future of careers: Uncertainty as a driving force
In 2025, work remains a strong source of fulfillment for young talent (93%).
Work-life balance (60%) is the key aspiration of European young graduates.
European graduates aim to stay just 12 months for their first position, revealing a clear lack of projection at the start of their career.
Companies are perceived positively (77%), described as collaborative and captivating. But students and young graduates are pragmatic: they also see it as stressful, complicated and hierarchical.
Whether by choice or by necessity, fixed-term contracts are no longer the only option for European students. Half of them prefer another type of contract.
They already anticipate the profound impact of AI on job (68%) and some are concerned about the potential obsolescence of their profession in the coming years (28%).
Once in position, European graduates want to prioritise specialising in a specific field (27%).
Over the long term, professional reorientation is already a strong consideration, whether by choice (56%) or by constraint (39%).
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
About JobTeaser JobTeaser, European leader in the recruitment and orientation of young talents, was founded in 2008 to facilitate the transi- tion between the academic and professional world. With the mission of supporting young people in their professio- nal integration, JobTeaser offers an integrated platform in more than 800 schools and universities across Europe. This platform is used by 5 million students and recent gra- duates to discover internship and job opportunities, and by more than 250,000 recruiters to communicate and recruit talent.
About The Gen Z Lab Launched in 2023, The Gen Z Lab is an observatory de- dicated to the analysis of future generations and their re- lationship to work. Bringing together our resources on the characteristic trends of Generation Z, our ambition is to demystify preconceived ideas about this youth, to stu- dy their behaviour, and to better understand their aspira- tions. Studies, testimonies, forums, detailed and prospec- tive analyses: find all our content developed by JobTeaser experts to decipher those who will shape the world of work of tomorrow.
To learn more, visit:
To learn more, visit:
The GenZ Lab
corporate.jobteaser.com
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
About EDHEC Business School
About the NewGen Talent Center
With 120 years of history, EDHEC Business School has esta- blished itself as a leading institution in France, ranking 7th Bu- siness School in Europe by the Financial Times since 2022. EDHEC has developed a unique model, based on research use- ful to society, businesses and students. EDHEC is thus today a place of excellence, innovation, experience and diversity, ca- pable of impacting future generations in a world in profound upheaval. Having a positive impact on the world is our reason for being.
Created in May 2013, the NewGen Talent Center is EDHEC's center of expertise on the aspirations, behaviors and skills of new generations of graduates. Its mission is to detect, unders- tand and explain the evolution of young people's expectations for their professional lives to respond to the issues of attrac- tion, loyalty and commitment of companies. We benefit from the support of the Forvis Mazars group.
To find out more, visit:
EDHEC NewGen Talent Center
More information on the Group website:
EDHEC Business School
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Starting careers: What future graduates want in 2025
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