The Fantasy Of Wealth: Attracting College Graduates Into The Workforce

For organizations to gain an advantage in today’s market it is imperative they recruit top talent; and with Millennials comprising the largest portion of the current workforce, they have become a primary source of that talent. The Millennial workforce is currently fed by college students entering the workforce. One recruitment strategy that has been shown to effectively attract Millennials, is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which defines an organizations initiative towards social obligations that positively influence the organization's internal and external stakeholders on multiple levels (i.e., philanthropic, environmental, legal, and economic). This study examined the value college seniors placed on each CSR type. More specifically, economic CSR, and if economic CSR, rather than other CSR types, would increase General Attractiveness by increasing the perception of an organization being socially responsible (i.e. Overall CSR Perceptions). Plus, whether each CSR type, especially economic CSR, and General Attractiveness was mediated by Overall CSR Perceptions. The results indicated legal, philanthropic, and environmental CSR as more important than economic CSR, and significantly influenced Overall CSR Perceptions, however only environmental CSR influenced General Attractiveness. Legal, philanthropic, and environmental CSR, held significant positive indirect effects to General Attractiveness through Overall CSR Perceptions, while economic CSR did not. For recruiters looking to attract recently graduated undergraduate Millennials through CSR messaging, they ought to use environmental, philanthropic, and legal CSR information. This can increase the Overall CSR Perceptions of the organization which can make the organization seem as a more attractive place of employment to the applicant.