A new landscape for employers
If you're running a company in 2024 and hoping to take a relaxed approach to employee retention and recruitment, think again. A mix of historically low unemployment, high demand for labor, and workers with spiking confidence creates a Danish job market where employers must put in considerable work if they want to attract and retain right talent. .
Record numbers of employees feel they are in control
First and foremost, let us present the reason for our claim that what we are seeing is an "employee's market." More than 50 % of the workforce feels they have the bargaining power, seven out of ten are contacted several times a year regarding job opportunities, and as much as 38% are actively seeking a new job!
What does this entail for you as an employer?
"It’s a tough situation for many companies because it means they need to spend tremendous resources and effort fine-tuning how they do things," says Jacob Perstrup Matyjasik, Head of Recruitment at Jobindex. "It means that employers must go the extra mile if they want the right people on their team. Suddenly, it’s about gaining a completely different understanding of how candidates act, what their values are, and what working conditions attract them. And that’s a difficult situation to be in."
When asked for a general recommendation Jacob Matyjasik suggests that companies work on their brand value. This becomes extremely important when there's a battle for employees, especially since it's the first thing potential candidates encounter in the recruitment process.
The recruitment process is more important than ever before
In this context, we see that as many as 78% of workers are willing to reject an otherwise attractive job offer if they get a poor impression during the interview; and 52% would say no thanks if they have a bad experience during the recruitment process. The interview and recruitment process are thus crucial moments in attracting the right candidates.
"Primarily, it’s a challenge to get the right candidates into your pool, and once you have them, it’s tough to keep them in that pool," says Jacob Matyjasik.
"In an 'employee's market,' we see that every single touchpoint in the process plays a much larger role. You need to ensure that branding, recruitment process, interviews, and onboarding go smoothly. If you mess up in one area, all the effort you've put into the other touchpoints can be wasted. It places great demands on both internal and external actors, who need to be extra professional in how they approach candidates."
Work-life balance is the most important factor for employees
Along these lines, we see that Danes value work-life balance above all else, followed closely by good relationships with both colleagues and leaders. At the same time, we also find that as many as 45% of employees dream of a four-day workweek. Whether they're willing to take a pay cut for it is something we will investigate soon.
Rasmus Pedersen, Employer Branding Manager at Jobindex, understands why the conclusions are as they are. “My recommendation is to focus heavily on competing on working conditions, values, and culture. This survey supports what we focus on in our work for our clients – namely that relationships with colleagues are among the most important things for all candidate groups.”
“When work-life balance, colleagues, and leadership rank so highly, it means that employers owe it to candidates to be more specific about their efforts in these areas. We’re seeing a big departure from vague statements – employers must work with honesty and authenticity and genuinely reflect on what kind of company they are,” says Rasmus Pedersen.
Rasmus Pedersen suggests that it is especially valuable to focus on visual communication. It is a way to open a window to what kind of workplace candidates are invited to join.
“We can see a concrete increase in the number of applicants for job postings when we combine visual communication with these areas, which are particularly important to employees. Employers can leverage their current employees and their motivations and perceptions of the workplace. The more candidates can see what they’re stepping into, the more likely they are to feel comfortable applying. It also naturally reduces bad hires, which can be very costly,” says Rasmus Pedersen, adding one final comment: “It’s also important to note that work-life balance is now almost like salary – it's becoming a given, a baseline that just needs to be in place. Many people have gotten used to working from home since COVID, and more and more companies are becoming open to experimenting with other models for structuring the workweek.”
”Det er også vigtigt at bemærke, at work-life balance befinder sig et sted nu, hvor det ligesom løn begynder at være en selvfølge, en baseline, der bare skal være i orden. Mange har efter Corona vænnet sig til at have hjemmedage, og flere og flere virksomheder begynder at være mere åbne for eksperimenter med andre modeller for arbejdsugens udformning.”
What about the future?
One thing is certain – it's an employee's market, and that might be a good thing. It forces employers to be more democratic and to take an interest in the employees’ perspective. It forces companies to think beyond the usual cost-benefit calculations and to think humanly and creatively – and that’s not a bad situation for either companies or employees.
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* Jobinsight is the Danish section of The Decoding Global Talent survey, which is one of the largest surveys of the global workforce, is conducted annually in collaboration between Boston Consulting Group, The Network, The StepStone Group, and Jobindex, and is based on data collected through online surveys. It spans across 188 countries and 155.000 respondents globally.
