By Michelle Boyde

The buzz phrase at the moment has to be ‘Broken Britain’ – in the papers, on the news; our politicians are spouting their strategies for healing our deteriorating country at every opportunity. This week’s poverty feature in the Evening Standard has brought to light the plight of many living in London and at the same time, re-engaged many Londoners in the issue of poverty. Many of those engaged by this week-long feature are sure to be young talent, specifically the Millennial generation. Almost 40 per cent of which, have a career goal ‘to be dedicated to a cause or serving a greater good’ (Universum Student Survey). London has big disparities in income and lifestyle, many of which are perceived to be fostered by greedy capitalism and we seem more aware of this than ever with a general election looming. Young people’s engagement in social responsibility offers huge branding opportunities for employers, but crucially this branding must be supported by truth. Will we see a sharp rise in the number of employers communicating their community initiatives over the coming months? And, can the City employers balance this with their ‘bad bankers’ image? Only time will tell if this can be a differentiating factor for UK employers.