It’s a tricky time in the world of talent attraction. Since you’re reading this blog, you might already know that. If you didn’t, apologies for being the bearer of bad news. But it’s good to face the facts: in the competitive talent landscape of 2024, it’s more crucial than ever to have a robust employer brand to get ahead in 2025.
It’s increasingly difficult for companies to stand out to new talent, or to keep existing employees engaged. Therefore, crafting a compelling company culture and a clear attraction strategy has never been more important. But how do you do cathis? Well, understanding the latest trends and data in employer branding is an essential first step.
So, here are the top employer branding statistics from 2024 , all taken from Wisdom. Think of them as a torch to take with you into the dark depths of the job market in 2025. Or just think of them as stats. Either way, they’ll help you focus your attraction efforts in the right places, in the right ways, and on the right people.
A more settled talent pool
Since September 2023, the number of people changing jobs in the UK has halved.
Only 9% of people left their jobs in the last 12 months, compared to 20% the year before. People are more settled in their roles and aren’t looking to move in a tough job market. This means that there's a higher proportion of passive candidates and less active candidates. Messaging should therefore be persuasive, not just informative.
Of those who did leave their roles, the main reason for doing so was a lack of appreciation. So, what can your company do to give talent the recognition they deserve? Consider introducing peer recognition platforms, such as weekly email updates, so that colleagues can share their appreciation of one another. Review your bonuses and awards to ensure they genuinely acknowledge and reward top performers.
Why do talent leave their jobs?
‘Looking for better growth opportunities’ is fast becoming one of the main reasons to leave a job.
The search for better growth opportunities has been an increasingly common reason for leaving a company. People are thinking more about the promotion paths ahead of them. Clearing the obstacles on that path and providing a clear route up through the company is therefore an important factor for future attraction strategies. This is especially the case for female employees, who leave their roles in search of better growth opportunities 3% more than men do. Providing transparency around the progression structure and sharing information about what makes a successful employee will elevate your messaging going forwards.
What’s the biggest work priority for early talent?
For early talent, career prospects are the biggest incentive to join a company, over pay and reward.
For the average working person in the UK, a good lifestyle and strong compensation is the most important element of work. But when you separate early talent from the rest, the priority changes to career prospects.
Therefore, your company’s career progression opportunities should be a central detail in early talent attraction campaigns. Since people trust employees more than companies, advocacy is a powerful way of conveying this message. Testimonials about the learning, development and progression at your company will effectively engage early talent.
How do work priorities change across different roles?
There's no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to talent attraction. Different roles want different things - and the latest stats reveal the specifics.
For tech talent, work’s all about what you get to do. For customer service and corporate functions, work’s all about purpose. And for finance and sales talent, work’s more about what’s in it for them.
As you target hiring employees from these different areas, it’s important to flex your messaging accordingly. Therefore, attraction strategies for tech talent should emphasise the opportunity within your company to become an expert, create great things, and rebel against norms. For customer service and corporate functions, messaging around impacting lives, bringing happiness, and making a difference will resonate the most. For finance and sales talent, detailing progression, support and benefits will prove most effective.
What are the most popular online platforms?
LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram are fast becoming the favoured platforms.
Since 2023, the platforms people use to search for jobs has shifted. While online job boards were (by far) the most popular in 2023 at 33.6%, this has decreased in 2024 to 28.3%. Meanwhile, LinkedIn has become more popular this year, rising from 23.8% in 2023 to 27.5% in 2024. Careers websites are now the first point of search for 22.9% of people, up from 18.7% in 2023. Talent attraction strategies should account for these changes in platforms, ensuring that job listings are shared on LinkedIn and that careers websites provide a smooth user experience.
It’s not just job-searching platforms that have shifted since last year. We’ve seen even more drastic changes in favoured social media platforms. This is most obvious in platforms like TikTok, which has rocketed from 10.2% of people using it in 2023, to 22% in 2024. We’ve seen an even larger increase for Instagram, which has risen from 12.6% to 27.34%. It’s important to take into account that users are rarely visiting these platforms to search for jobs; content shared on social media therefore needs to be mindful of its intrusion into what is normally leisure time. So, content should generate engagement through an element of fun, or education about the brand itself, rather than content that focuses too heavily on work and the employee experience.
Bringing it all together
So, you’ve waded into a pool of data and made it out alive - congratulations! After all that, you’re probably in need of a summary. Here’s your employer branding action plan…
Your attraction strategies need to persuade talent that they will be appreciated at your company. They also need to illustrate the growth opportunities on offer. For early talent, using testimonials to dial up positivity around career prospects will be effective. When looking to hire for specific job areas, flex attraction strategies according to their priorities; is work about the connections they will make, or the things they will do? Is it about what they will receive, or how fulfilled they will feel? And, finally, make sure you’re doing all of this in the right places - there’s no point having a killer attraction strategy if it’s not going to reach the right people.
At Wiser, we believe that everything begins with research. This is coming from somebody in the research team, so there’s a little bit of bias there, perhaps. But it is a truth universally acknowledged that you can’t run before you can walk. It’s the same when it comes to fashioning a fantastic employer brand strategy. So, we hope these top employer branding stats of 2024 will help you walk and, in turn, help your employer brand run.
