Dive Brief:
- Mercer released a new report, People First: Driving Growth in Emerging Megacities, which details the factors that motivate workers to live in rising megacities and what employers must do to hire them. With a focus on four decision-making factors — human, health, money and work — the study found that employees rated life satisfaction as twice as important as employers did, whereas employers thought job and career opportunities were more important. Mercer polled 7,200 workers and more than 500 employers in 15 megacities.
- In other study results, just one in five employees in emerging markets said they don't think they'll lose their jobs in the next five years, a concern employers need to address. More than half of workers expect large companies to work beside local and national governments to make cities more attractive.
- Mercer developed a Global City Index and ranked the 15 current and future megacities; among them are Casablanca, Morocco; Nairobi, Kenya; Nanjing, China; and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Dive Insight:
According to the Mercer report, nearly half (47%) of the gross domestic product (GDP) will originate in 443 cities worldwide between 2010 and 2025. Businesses may want to put themselves in a position to recruit and hire skilled job seekers who want to live in these growing urban areas.
The NRP Group relocated its headquarters to downtown Cleveland because it believed it would find more young professionals there and be able to use the city to attract millennials to its business. Research shows that young professionals like the cultural events, interesting restaurants and vibrant social scenes that metropolitan areas offer.
Living in many U.S. cities can mean big costs for workers. A one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco can cost $3,000 a month, for example. Business leaders will have to consider the cost of living associated with the city they're situated in as they assign salaries and benefits.
