Purpose Over Paycheck: How Ethics are Redefining Career Choice

We all want the work we do to mean something, right?

When speaking with candidates, I’ve noticed a distinct trend lately: many of the tech leadership candidates who I’ve worked with recently aren’t just looking for a job that pays the bills. They’re looking for a job that connects with a deeper, inner ethical purpose.

They want a workplace of real, meaningful shared values that shine forth in the work that they do. They want to go home at the end of a hard day and know that it was ultimately all worth it for the greater good.

In parallel, “purpose” has become a bit of a fluffy corporate buzzword whose ubiquity has watered down its meaning. But as we’ll learn, employees don’t want hollow promises of purpose – they need to live, breathe, and feel it in order for both employer and employee to reap the rewards.

So let’s interrogate this focus on purposeful work, explore one recruiter’s theory, and find out what this means for employers and candidates both now and in the future.

What “Purpose” Means to Candidates

When I first speak with a candidate, I naturally ask “what would you like your next role to look like?” And increasingly, before they talk about industry, before they talk about money, before they talk about responsibilities – they talk about what they want to do at work to make the world a better place.

It’s an honour to help candidates with those aims. They’ve thought long and hard about where they want to show up in the world and where they want to contribute – and by extension, where they don’t want to contribute.

And for the avoidance of doubt, here are some areas of business that candidates frequently don’t want to associate with: tobacco, gambling, fossil fuels, climate inaction, surveillance tech, brokerage of individuals’ private data, animal cruelty, unethical pharmaceutical practices, predatory lending, and many more.

Why Purpose-Driven Employment Matters Now

Nearly all Gen Zs and millennials want purpose-driven work, and they are not afraid to turn down work that doesn’t align with their values. Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 2024

On the whole, the tech leaders of the near future are firmly value-driven in their approach to employment. The 2025 edition of Deloitte’s Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey uncovered that 89% of Gen Z and 92% of millennials felt that having a sense of purpose is important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being. 45% of millennials have actually turned down an employer based on their personal ethics or beliefs.

It doesn’t seem like five minutes since millennials were being berated for their hipster man-buns and frivolous avocado toast consumption. But it’s worth remembering that older millennials are now in their mid-forties – with senior leadership well within reaching distance, if they aren’t there already.

So let me put it plainly: the tech C-Suite leaders of the (increasingly near) future are seeking employment based on shared values and the ability to drive positive change rather than just money.

It’s clear that this runs a lot deeper than  “I want an employer who shares my values” – though that remains an essential baseline for any candidate.

And considering the stresses and strains associated with cybersecurity leadership, it stands to reason that if tech leaders are going to work themselves to the bone, it needs to mean something deeper and more lasting than mere profits.

Why is Purpose So Essential? My Theory
Here’s why I think purpose is becoming ever more important within the workplace.

Those of us in the global north are largely more informed and provided for than we ever have been throughout history. A meal in their stomach and a fulfilling life at home is the lived reality for most professionals (though I’m keen to acknowledge that’s not the case for everyone).

With many professionals’ physiological and personal safety needs being taken care of, more of them are able to move further up the rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They’re largely more able to move beyond mere physiology and security and more towards self-esteem and self-actualisation.

At the levels of seniority we cater to at Bestman Solutions, candidates aren’t just looking for work just to make ends meet. To varying degrees, many have progressed well beyond entry level positions and are now looking to make a meaningful contribution. Whether that’s simply to benefit their family unit, their wider community, or the world at large.

Science bears this out. Two of our feel-good chemicals, oxytocin and dopamine, flow when we feel our work has distinct purpose and meaning.

Purpose at Work: Reflecting Societal Need?

The concept of “purpose driven work” obviously isn’t some kind of newfangled, 21st Century invention. But I feel that in our world that is becoming increasingly technical, polarising, automated, convenience-driven, and worryingly impersonal, our shared humanity actually matters to us more than ever. The public at large are noticing this, with senior professionals no exception.

Shared moral values are undoubtedly one of the crucial things that underpin society. And AI – even AGI – will never be able to synthesise a genuine moral compass. Your personal favourite public LLM might have a go, but it will only ever come back with something surface-level – agreeable, yet ultimately soulless.

And amidst this constantly swirling, impatient, throwaway culture, many of us are on our own quest for lasting purpose; wanting to contribute to something more meaningful that aligns with our deep, inborn sense of morality, goodness, and justice.

And in a world where bills need to be paid and bacon (or a suitable plant-based substitute) needs to be brought home, it stands to reason that we seek that moral fulfilment during our “day job”.

What This Drive for Purpose Means for Employers
So what can employers take away from this candidate-driven focus on purpose? Well, if you’re interested in uncovering like-minded, purpose-driven candidates, I’d recommend you consider the following.

Invest in Human Resources
Invest in internally-directed HIHRS (high-investment human resource systems) activities like training, career development, promotions, pay and benefits, occupational safety and health, job security, and equal opportunities. A recent paper by Ong, Kim, and Koopman “explore[d] the conditions under which job seekers may not respond positively to a potential employer’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities,” concluding that:

Long story short: HIHRS initiatives appear to bolster candidate reception of your CSR efforts.
I’d agree that HIHRS initiatives are crucial employee benefits that drive good talent in your direction, regardless of ethics. But I’d simplify the findings above to simply “charity begins at home,” because good ethics grow best from the fertiliser of good culture.

Establish Your Ethical Commitments

Establish meaningful, closely held corporate opinions on the matters that matter, even if you don’t plan to shout them from the rooftops. After all, it’s only a matter of time before someone asks, and having a pre-prepared statement containing verifiable actions taken displays confidence in your corporate principles.

Job seekers at all levels of seniority are becoming highly skilled at discerning authenticity from marketing BS. Any ethical commitments you make publicly need to be absolutely genuine, with a clear plan of action. After all, a failure to put your money where your mouth is in this regard could paint you as disingenuous and untrustworthy amongst the growing pool of purpose-led candidates.

Publicise Your Commitments – Especially to Potential Employees

Sharing your commitments to ethics and social impacts will provide essential public-facing transparency, both to potential candidates and potential customers. To increase potential gains, you could even seek out PR opportunities to further spread and cement public awareness of your social responsibility drive(s).

Our team loves to see when value-driven organisations go that one step further and include their ethical commitments in job specs and adverts. Putting your values front and centre like this can be instrumental in attracting valuable, like-minded candidates.

What Corporate Purpose Means for Candidates & Employees
This focus on ethics and social impact actually puts a lot of power in the hands of candidates. And in a market that (at the time of writing) is largely tipped in favour of employers, purpose provides candidates with a few crucial bargaining chips.

Increased Skills Leverage

Individuals with in-demand skills (like those in tech, cyber, and AI leadership) are increasingly empowered to ask about corporate ethical stances and commitments during the application process. Chances are that these professionals will consider a potential employer’s ethical commitments alongside more “traditional” benefits like pay, perks, and flexibility.

Closer Assessment of Culture

Similarly, full-time candidates are likely to spend time evaluating a company’s ethical stance before accepting an offer – potentially examining company policies, CSR initiatives, and internal employee resource groups with a fine-tooth comb.

The Ethical Compensation Premium

Some professionals are willing to accept lower salaries in exchange for working at a company with a strong ethical focus. However, the inverse is also true – some professionals will demand higher compensation to work within ethically questionable organisations or industries.

Talent Migration Patterns

As purpose becomes more important to the workforce, and post-great reshuffle, talent is becoming more willing to move away from ethically questionable companies or industries. In turn, this can incentivise employers in less favourable sectors to build on their ethical promises in order to compete for the best talent.

The Future of Purpose-Driven Employment

In order to compete for the best, most driven talent, I feel that companies will absolutely need to refine and build upon not just their Employer Value Proposition, but their broader “moral value proposition” too. They would also benefit from working closely with their marketers and PR experts to articulate these ethical values to the wider world.

However, this value transformation can’t just be skin-deep. It can’t be a hollow PR play for increased talent and customers – as both groups are increasingly discerning and unwavering where ethics are concerned. Companies need to embrace the power of purpose: carefully assessing their moral values and genuinely living and breathing those values.

In many of the markets in which we operate, it’s largely an employer’s market at the moment. However, the scales won’t always be tipped in employers’ favour. When the market turns around to favour candidates once again, organisations who embody purpose will be in a strong position to acquire the best people.