The majority of the public would choose to work for a social enterprise, a new YouGov poll has revealed.
Social enterprises are defined by the Social Enterprise Coalition as “profit-making businesses set up for a social or environmental purpose, which reinvest the bulk of their profits.”
The poll, which asked over 2,000 respondents to choose which type of organisation they would prefer to work for, found that 30% picked social enterprise. A mere 16% of respondents said they would like to work for a traditional business while even less said they would like to work for a government institution (13%) or a traditional charity (13%).
Jonathon Bland, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition said that social enterprises offer a new way of working that is attractive to today’s job-seekers. “Social enterprises capture the best of both worlds – the efficiency and focus of conventional business alongside the ethics of the voluntary sector.”
As well as exploring attitudes towards careers, respondents were also asked for their views on how local services are run. Over 60% of those polled said that they would like to see their local services run by a social enterprise, while only 11% said that a government institution should be at the helm.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
