This is a guest post from Rebecca Siciliano, Managing Director at Tiger Recruitment, as part of our Recruiting Weekly Series. Rebecca shares her thoughts on how to attract top talent across different age groups.
At Tiger, we release our annual Salary and Benefits Review based on a large-scale Salary Survey of job seekers and workers. In September 2020, we collected data from over 2,100 UK respondents, giving us valuable insight into salaries, benefits, job-seeking priorities and employee satisfaction levels.
The findings of our latest review show how the motivations and priorities of our candidates have shifted in light of the pandemic. What we found particularly interesting is how this varied across each age group. To help you understand the ever-important priorities of candidates, we’ve analysed and summarised the motivations of each age group in moving into a new role.
16-24-year-olds
According to our survey data, the youngest members of our workforce are looking for job security above all else in their next role, scoring it at 4.47/5. This isn’t surprising when almost a fifth cited redundancy as the reason for leaving their last role, while 74.8% reported they are most worried about finding a new job. As the demographic with the least amount of experience under their belts, understanding your candidates’ fears and allaying these concerns will help you represent them in the best way possible. Instead of focusing on the negatives, reiterate which of their soft/hard skills are most attractive and help them harness those strengths in their CV and/or interview skills.
This age group is also worried about the impact of the pandemic on their long-term career (with over 80% reporting they are very or quite concerned). Therefore, if your clients are looking to attract top graduates or those looking for their first or second job, they must have a solid progression path available for those roles and communicate them in the first instance (either through you or in the job description). Whether they have a graduate scheme in place or a mentorship program available, these types of initiatives will help encourage your candidates to apply.
25-34-year-olds
Many of the candidates in this age group are classified as millennials. As such, your clients may believe they need to invest in what has traditionally appealed to this demographic, like super-sized benefits packages or a cool work environment. While this may have been true pre-pandemic, our survey found that the main motivator for this age group was salary (scoring 4.59 out of five). Despite everything, salaries actually remained steady throughout 2020, so employers who can offer competitive salary packages will be at an advantage when attracting this group.
However, a significant number of these workers (29.5%) report they aren’t happy with their employers’ flexible working options, while a further 6.2% say they are very dissatisfied with their current role. These are the highest metrics for any age group we surveyed. Therefore, when presenting the package to potential candidates, ensure you don’t focus entirely on salary. Instead, look at the holistic picture – from benefits to flexible working options, company culture, to improved communication channels.
35-44-year-olds
As it’s likely that candidates in this age group may have families or other caring responsibilities, it’s not surprising that their main priority is a positive work-life balance (scoring 4.5 out of five). This is a departure from what initially attracted them to their current role: a good work environment. The change may be due to an increase in working remotely, knocking this priority from first to fourth place.
With 34% of respondents in this age bracket reporting they are looking to leave their current role in the next 12 months, you should stay in touch with your top candidates to ensure they come to you when they look to move. When they do, it’s likely they’ll be attracted to a role where they enjoy increased flexibility, the ability to work from home, and a team that respects boundaries between their personal and working life. Your clients should adapt their offering to suit, promote their flexible working policies and ensure they adapt their benefits to be tailored to each employee.
45-54-year-olds
Surprisingly, there are similarities in the priorities of this demographic and the youngest members of our workforce. This age group also values job security when looking for their next role (scoring it 4.38 out of five), which may be due to their fear of both redundancy and potential ageism when job-seeking. While these candidates are often experienced, employers should offer strong training and development opportunities to help attract this segment of the workforce. This will ensure workers feel valued and reassured about their long-term future at their new company.
This priority is closely followed by a desire for a competitive salary, which scored 4.32 out of five on our metric. However, if your clients aren’t in a position to offer more money, this group also valued a positive work-life balance, a benefit your clients can hopefully highlight when attracting this demographic.
55+-year-olds
The oldest members of our workforce reported positive results in our survey – they are both the most satisfied in their roles (24% are very satisfied) and happiest with their flexible working options (79%).
While this is great news for those who currently employ workers in this age group, if your clients are looking to hire top senior talent, it may be difficult for them to attract new starters to their company. However, it is important to note that over half (52%) of this age group are most concerned about commuting once businesses return to the office. Therefore, your clients should focus on offering a competitive salary (their number one priority is a solid financial package, scoring 4.35 out of five) and remote working options when attracting this demographic.
In summary, as we expect to see an uplift in hiring activity in 2021, it will mean that, as recruiters, we should be prepared to help our clients attract the most talented individuals available. While we hope this data will help guide conversations with your clients, your candidates’ motivations will depend on their circumstances, so always keep the lines of communication open and stay on top of your candidate care.
Request your copy of Tiger Recruitment’s Salary and Benefits Review 2021 for further employee insights.
Author, Rebecca Siciliano – Managing Director at Tiger Recruitment 
Rebecca Siciliano specialises in PA recruitment and is the Managing Director at Tiger Recruitment. Tiger is B Corp Certified. They are part of a global movement of businesses committed to improving social and environmental conditions around the world.
