Employee orientation and recognition, employee development and enhancement, as well as job stability, are the main three values that employees find most appealing when considering applying for a post with a new company. This has been a consistent trend in the findings of MISCO’s Job Seeker Behaviours and Expectations research, which is conducted annually to provide companies with insight into the dynamic Maltese labour market.
These findings were presented recently during a MISCO in the Hot Seat event, organised online with the theme ‘Job Seekers’ Behaviour and Expectations for 2020’.
“This latest survey provided us with interesting data on what attracts people to apply for jobs, what makes companies stand out and what values employees seek for when considering who they want to work for,” Odessa Farrugia from MISCO, who coordinated the survey, said.
“We found that whereas promotion of company benefits and events, testimonials and communication of CSR events do have an impact on attracting job seekers, 45 per cent of potential candidates consider the professional outlook of the company to be more important. Additionally, job seekers stated that the most important factor, 68 per cent, that would attract them to apply for a position is the company’s values and what it stands for,” Josianne Avellino, senior manager at MISCO, commented.
Work patterns and expectations are shifting
“What is interesting to note is that, although we are going through unprecedented circumstances, candidates’ attitudes towards job seeking do not seem to have shifted. Candidates still expect to be contacted with jobs directly by companies and also expect that the recruitment process is easy and convenient for them. This could be conflicting with the fact that companies may now be receiving more applications for positions and, therefore, may not feel the need to contact additional candidates for the vacant roles that they are offering,” Farrugia added.
What has changed, however, is the prospective employees’ wish to be given the opportunity to work from home for a couple of days per week. Employees would usually tend to either work completely from the office or from home and the ‘mixed’ option was rarely implemented. Sixty per cent of respondents stated that if they were looking for a job they would prefer to be given the ‘mixed’ option, followed by 33 per cent who wish to work completely from the office and a similar 32 per cent who wish to work completely from home. Through this one can observe that work patterns and expectations are shifting, and new modes of working will be expected and applied long term.
The presentation covering the survey and the outcomes of the Hot Seat has been distributed to all those attending the event. Anyone interested in receiving a copy can contact MISCO on mspiterigonzi@miscomalta.com.