Young people have shared their deal breakers when accepting a job and their reasons for declining them are very specific.
You usually hear the term ‘deal breaker’ when it comes to people discussing their romantic relationships.
Everyone has their own separate caveat for why they won’t pursue someone romantically.
It can be sensible like not wanting to be with someone who is financially irresponsible, or petty, like not wanting to be with a man that lets his toe hair fly in the breeze.
Deal breakers are personal, but they can also apply to careers.
And, with Australia’s current unemployment rate at a low of 3.7 per cent, it has become a time when workers have more choice.
Millennials and Generation Zers are known for approaching work differently to previous generations. They want work to work for them, and they aren’t shy about sharing their personal work deal breakers.
One revealed her choice was just about making sure she had the chance to get a strong “vibe check” before she took on a new job.
She explained that she wouldn’t consider a new gig unless she’d meet her “line manager” and they’d passed her “vibe” test.
Another explained that it was just about making sure she wasn’t expected to help keep the office tidy.
“If they don’t have cleaners,” she said was her big reason to decline an otherwise appealing-sounding job.
Someone else claimed she just wasn’t prepared to accept a job where the employer “encourages you to work in your free time”.
Another explained they wouldn’t accept a job with “a high ratio of white cis men”.
One Aussie revealed they weren’t prepared to work anywhere with a rigid dress code.
“It’s a tank top summer,” she explained.
Someone else shared she wouldn’t accept a job that didn’t offer some “perks”.
She clarified she would be happy with a gym membership discount or some help with private health insurance.
Another Aussie said that because they were at an executive level, they wouldn’t work somewhere if they didn’t get their “own office.”
Unsurprisingly, the main deal breaker for young people remains flexibility with working from home.
“I couldn’t work somewhere if I had to be in the office five days a week,” someone said.
Another revealed they wouldn’t even accept a job where “set days” were required in the office.
Someone else explained that not only did they want to work from home, but a deal breaker for them was a lack of flexibility with “remote work” — being able to travel and continue working as expected.
So, is it good that young people are so aware of their own deal breakers?
Founder and CEO of Employment Hero Ben Thompson said that deal breakers shouldn’t be mistaken for “entitlement”.
“There is a greater desire for flexibility, putting more boundaries between work and life and shifting the mindset from living to work to working to live,” he said.
“This shift is not to be mistaken for entitlement. Covid-19 taught us that young people can be more selective about where and how they want to work, re-evaluating their priorities and working in a way that best suits their lives.”
Instead, Thompson said these “new demands” are pushing employers to create workplaces that appeal to a new generation of workers.
“It needs to be a priority to attract and retain the best productive and engaged talent,” he advised.