What Does It Take for Employers to Attract and Retain Talent Today?


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 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?

When we interviewed recent junior hires of a global investment bank in Japan to understand why they chose their employer over its competitors, it was found that people’s relationships influenced them the most in their career decision.

The company offered new employees an opportunity to work with their future team for a week during the recruitment process and when an offer was made, the managing director contacted the candidates individually rather than through a recruiter. The young employees felt that they were valued and respected, and they appreciated the open culture of the company.

Over 90% of those we spoke to confirmed that they joined and stayed with their current company because of its people. It was the people who they had the chance to speak with during their interview process and in the first few months that made the most difference. Employers should not underestimate the importance of human interactions in creating a positive employee experience even when recruiting a generation of digital natives.

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