Battle for talent: How to become the employer of choice for young people?

In today‘s world, developing effective strategies for attracting and retaining talent is crucial for maintaining the competitive advantage of orga­nizations, with the expectations of young people posing an increasing challen­ge. The purpose of this study was to determine which dimensions of employer attractiveness emerging adults in Slovenia consider the most important, how their preferences differ from the expectations of older generations and whether the expectations of emerging adults have changed in the past two years. The stu­dy included 342 working-age Slovenians 261 women and 78 men, including 135 emerging adults, aged 18 to 29. Data were collected using the Employer Attractiveness Scale (Berthon et al., 2005), with two added dimensions; flexi­bility and health. The results show that expectations of emerging adults have not changed in the past two years. All measured dimensions of attractiveness are important to young people, which means that when choosing an employer, they do not highlight just one key factor, but consider the entirety of the potential work environment, including workplace relationships, financial benefits, flexibility, development opportunities, and more. Compared to emerging adults, older gene­rations are more attracted to employers who take care of the interest and appli­cation aspects of work, such as dynamic environment and opportunities to apply knowledge. These findings highlight the importance of adapting HR strategies for the long-term attraction and retention of young talent.