It has been an ongoing challenge for employers to attract and retain younger employees who tend to change jobs every few years. Since the pandemic, many of these young employees have experienced a more obvious misalignment between what they look for in a job and what their employers offer, which further accelerated the pace of their job switch. According to LinkedIn’s data, Gen Z employees are changing jobs at a rate of more than doubled in 2019.
With the number of job vacancies returned to or exceeded the pre-covid level in many locations across the Asia Pacific, including Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, young employees are more open to new opportunities.
To retain and attract Generation Z, a different strategy is required. A lot of research has shown that young employees are consistent proponents of virtual work and flexibility. To win in the war of talent, tech companies globally have announced workplace changes to better meet the needs of young talent, which in return supports their aggressive company growth. In hindsight, workplace flexibility is one of many benefits that is commonly provided to enhance the work-life balance of employees and increase staff retention.
In 2020 when the Australian-bred tech company Atlassian informed their employees that they can choose wherever they want to work, the level of employee satisfaction and the number of applications increased significantly, which has been crucial to supporting the growth of the company, Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar shared in an interview.
When Airbnb announced earlier this year that their employees can decide where they want to work and live globally, they experienced an increase of 800,000 potential candidates visiting their careers page.
The shifts have successfully raised brand awareness of these tech companies among candidates across all job levels. Many proponents of workplace flexibility have therefore advocated that fully remote, hybrid work arrangements and flexible work hours are the most essential factors for Gen Z to evaluate an employer, but are these all they want to make a career move?
While workplace flexibility is one of the key attraction factors of many companies, there are other important factors for junior talent and recent graduates to decide which company to join.
Some of the common considerations include:
While some employers may think that sustainable business growth itself provides a good picture of their promises to their employees, not many employees or candidates keep themselves updated with company announcements unless there is a direct impact on their work. A workplace culture that encourages transparent and regular communication across all levels, therefore, helps young candidates differentiate between a good employer and an average one.
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