The future is seamless

At inploi we believe that many of the fragmented, legacy recruitment technologies of the past will be swept aside by integrated solutions. Online platforms which deliver a superior user experience when connecting supply and demand, bringing them together effectively and efficiently and providing features and tools along the way which remove substantial friction from their interactions, no matter what device they use to access the internet.

Embracing these technologies is a strategic imperative for organisations if they wish to remain relevant and able to attract and engage the future of their workforces. And whilst COVID-19 has accelerated this shift in many areas, the best companies will go further, enhancing and expanding their digital channels and leaning into the revolution. [https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/human-capital/Deloitte_Review_26_Fourth_Industrial_Revolution.pdf]

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The New Collar Workforce

The world is changing, and the New Collar Workforce is in the engine room. We've coined this category to help you think about a demographic that is fundamentally different to generations that came before them.

Who are they, what do they care about, and how do you reach them? The New Collar Workforce is composed of the so-called Millenial and Gen Z generations. While there is some debate about exactly where to draw the line between these two groups, The Pew Research Centre argues that the brackets 1981-1996 for Millenials, and 1997-the present for Gen Z are the most useful analytical divisions when considering their participation in the workforce. [https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/]. Whilst there are many differences between and indeed within these two groups, the essential thing they have in common is that technology is woven into the fabric of their lives

Pew notes that “Baby Boomers grew up as television expanded dramatically, changing their lifestyles and connection to the world in fundamental ways. Generation X grew up as the computer revolution was taking hold, and Millennials came of age during the internet explosion”. For Gen Z, all of the above have been part of their lives from the beginning. “The iPhone launched in 2007, when the oldest Gen Zers were 10. By the time they were in their teens, the primary means by which people in the West connected with the web was through mobile devices, WiFi and high-bandwidth cellular service. Social media, constant connectivity and on-demand entertainment and communication are innovations Millennials adapted to as they came of age. For those born after 1996, these are largely assumed.”

As highlighted in the previous section, this has significant implications for the types of technology New Collar Workers are familiar with, and the level of user experience they expect from digital products. It is also fundamental to the way New Collar workers access, consume and engage with information, and with each other. Highly connected, the majority (85%) accesses the Internet from their phones. The management consultancy Gallup notes “they live their lives online, using the Web to conduct research, gather information and news; stream music, movies and television; keep in touch with friends, and make new connections. They have instant access to the world and a universal platform for sharing and hearing stories. They are always plugged in, creating an opportunity and a need for companies to adjust their communication strategies” when seeking to reach, engage, and hire from this demographic.

| Add image: by 2020, millennials, now aged between 21 and 35, will make up 35 per cent of the global workforce while 'Generation Z', aged 20 and younger, will make up 24 per cent. (the other section is baby boomers and gen x] https://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/will-millennials-and-gen-z-rule-workforce-2020-2551152/

New Collar workers are Consumers of Workplaces

What does this mean for recruitment and recruitment marketing? Gallup puts it just as well as we ever could, noting that the New Collar Workforce is “willing to investigate and pursue positions with other companies. [They] are the most likely generation to say they are open to new job opportunities and the most likely generation to say they plan to leave their job. This willingness presents a substantial opportunity for organisations to attract the best [New Collar] candidates. But that opportunity will only manifest itself to organisations that meet a defined set of criteria: They have to 1) actually offer them what they want, and 2) effectively message and sell themselves [to them]”. New Collar workers “behave as consumers of workplaces, shopping around for the jobs that best align with their needs and life goals”.

“More than ever, employers need to be aware of and act on the factors that make their companies appealing to these candidates. They have to make it easy for them to choose a particular company over its competition. Companies spend a lot of time and money on marketing campaigns that will appeal to loyal customers. But they often neglect to develop an equally strong employment brand to attract the best candidates”. This is a big mistake. As consumers of workplaces, New Collar workers need to be convinced about the culture, values, and missions of organisations, understanding how an organisation appeals to their needs and provides opportunities for career progression.

Understand who you are talking to

The first thing companies need to do to stand above competitors is to understand the nuances of [New Collar] job search patterns: “the “who, what, where, when and how” behind their job search. Considering their digital lifestyles, it is no surprise that they use websites and online resources to learn about job opportunities more than any other channels. This highlights the obvious need for companies to make their online job opportunities easy to find, user-friendly and visually appealing”. These should be accompanied by “compelling content related to what the organisation offers employees and what differentiates it from the competition”. [https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx].]

Having digested this and assimilated the necessity to achieve better visibility amongst candidates, the next step is understanding what will attract them to jobs and organisations. The data tells us that the New Collar workforce want to feel like they are contributing to something bigger than themselves, in an environment that values them and their well-being, and whose mission they can align with or at least understand. It is also essential that they understand what is expected from them in a job. When that is well articulated, and effectively evaluated with support provided where necessary their feelings of engagement once in their employment skyrockets to 72% from 45% [https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx], with related implications for retention rates and thus savings in recruitment costs. It turns out these matter far more than free lunches and petting zoos and other 'perks'.

Money is still important though. Deloittes 2020 Millennial Survey (https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html) found that “my long term financial future” was the second largest source of stress amongst millennials and Gen Zers, after “the welfare of my family”. Primary research conducted for inploi's Candidate and Job Seeker Survey 2020 [LINK] agreed, with 34.6% of respondents reporting that the salary/wage they received was an important motivation to stay in or move from a particular job. However respondents noted that other factors were important too with the team somebody works with/ their colleagues, job satisfaction, opportunities for training and development, a positive work environment and being offered new challenges at the top of the list. Unsurprisingly, the data shows that people want to be paid enough to feel financially secure: thereafter 'softer' considerations become increasingly important. This cuts across historically 'blue collar'-'white-collar' lines. Why? Because these things are fundamental to the human experience of their working lives, and essentially people's needs and wants are derived from things that hold irrespective of the type of job they are doing.

The message is essential

This underlines the importance not just of the medium used to reach job seekers and candidates, but also how essential the content - the message - that reaches them is. It is imperative that employers understand what makes New Collar workers tick and, having adapted their workplaces and practices to ensure they are engaged and productive in their jobs, are able to communicate these things effectively to potential employees. They need to be thinking about active job seekers (those currently looking for a new job) but crucially also about passive talent, in the knowledge that many excellent candidates are feeling disengaged in their jobs and around 50% [https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx] are open to moving jobs at any time.

To be most successful, companies need to be proactively developing (and engaging) communities of job seekers and potential job seekers. They need to be shining a light on their organisations, actively highlighting what is great about them and why they are a desirable place to work. What does your company do? What is its mission? What are the people who work there like? Do you invest in your employees' personal development and career advancement? Are there opportunities for growth within the organisation? Where do you stand on important social and environmental issues? What kind of people work there? These are just some of the questions companies need to be thinking about and leaning into. Propagating an understanding amongst job seekers (and customers!) of the answers to these questions and others like them, appealing to the candidate as both an active and a passive consumer of workplaces is at the core of employer brand development.

Infographic examples:https://www.manpowergroup.com/wps/wcm/connect/660ebf65-144c-489e-975c-9f838294c237/MillennialsPaper1_2020Vision_lo.pdf?MOD=AJPERES]