Generation Y and employer brand : an exploratory study on what attracts them.

This research explores what employer brand means to Generation Y (Gen-Y) jobseekers in Singapore. The components of organisation reputation and job attributes are chosen to represent employer brand. Based on 187 responses collected for our survey, factor analysis is carried out to create the resulting six factors or types of employer brand that are attractive to these jobseekers. The three factors under the component of organisation reputation are Social Responsibility, Organisation Structure and Rewards, and Competitive Multinational Corporations (MNC), while the three factors under the component of Job Attributes are Employee Engagement, Employee Development, and Work-Life Balance. A cluster analysis is conducted on the eight personality aspects adopted to create three clusters or profiles of personality. Members of Cluster 1 are high in collectivism and low in neuroticism (collectivists with low neuroticism), members of Cluster 2 are high in self-efficacy and low in extraversion (introverts with high self-efficacy), and members of Cluster 3 are high in self-efficacy and low in external locus of control (the “go-getters”). Multiple regression analyses and ANOVA analyses show the relationship between the factors of employer brand, the profiles of personality and variables such as gender. Taking gender into account, Social Responsibility, Employee Development and Work-Life Balance are more attractive to females than males. A jobseeker’s personality exerts significant influence on his attraction to any of the factors of employer brand except Work-Life Balance. In terms of the three personality profiles, all the factors of employer brand except Employee Development and Work-Life Balance are more attractive to Cluster 1 (collectivists with low neuroticism) than Clusters 2 (introverts with high self-efficacy) and 3 (the “go-getters”). Overall, we hope that the findings from this research will help organisations in creating their value proposition and positioning themselves better to their target group.BUSINES