Business

Study: A Slow Hiring Process Turns Off Gen Z Recruits

If it takes too long to apply for a job at your organization and even longer to get a response, you might miss out on younger talent that’s raring to work, a new study finds.

Trying to win over the latest graduating class? Make sure you’re keeping your recruitment technology up with the times.

That’s a key recommendation from the talent acquisition software firm Yello, whose latest study finds that recruiting methods of old—long application processes, long waits, and lots of paper—could be turning away potential applicants.

The 2019 Yello Recruiting Study [registration] noted that 54 percent of generation Z candidates wouldn’t bother submitting a job application if the process was overly complicated or overtly old-school, while 51 percent of millennials who are currently students felt the same way. (Millennials already in the job market, as well as generation X workers, were less likely to thumb their noses—but more than a third of respondents in both demographics said an outdated recruiting process was a turnoff.)

“Generation Z has a well-earned reputation for demanding instant gratification,” the company stated on its blog. “You can try to hold this against them, or you can figure out ways to meet their expectations.”

The report, more generally, notes that the current job market favors applicants over recruiters, leading job seekers to ask for higher salaries and more perks. Even with a hot job market in recent years, many generation Z students started their job search early: The study found that nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) were looking during their freshman year.  Just 10 percent started their job search after graduation.

While employees across the board want the recruitment process to move swiftly, gen Z applicants were the most likely to find fault with a drawn-out process. On top of that, more than half of workers fresh out of school anticipate staying in the same job for three years or less—and nearly 60 percent expect to take on another internal role within two years.

But employers have done little to anticipate and meet these expectations, according to the report.

“[F]ewer than 1 in 4 HR professionals have done anything to account for the trend of shorter tenures among younger workers,” the report notes. “This inability to plan for inevitable departures will result in a variety of workplace disruptions as recruiters scramble to hire for suddenly open roles.”

Other key findings:

  • Referrals remain the most effective way to find entry-level talent.
  • Work-life balance is important, especially for employed millennials.
  • Traditional benefits like insurance, vacation, and retirement plans remain the most popular perks for employees, although student loan repayments and paid parental leave are gaining ground.

(noipornpan/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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