Attracting young talent to your SME begins with being seen online
Owners of small- to medium-sized businesses must wear many hats… one of them being able to attract and retain quality talent.
According to a 2022 report by Stats SA, approximately 68% of South Africa’s labour force falls within the Gen Y (age 28 to 42) and Gen Z (age 27 and younger) age brackets.
So how do SMEs find the best that our Youth has to offer?
The informal and SME sectors are driving many of the employment opportunities in our local labour market.
However, SMEs don’t seem to be taking advantage of the many benefits that specialist online recruitment platforms offer when it comes to promoting these opportunities far and wide, which limits their chances of finding the right talent to power their businesses to success.
Currently, only 7% of advertised jobs on Pnet’s platform belong to SMEs, with the majority being posted by Corporates and Recruitment Agencies.
Unsurprisingly, the Youth are using online channels more than any other jobseeker segment. They are online-savvy, and mobile/apps are often their first port-of-call in job searches.
As such, SMEs are missing out when they don’t advertise their job vacancies on specialist online recruitment platforms to access this market.
Both Gen Z and Millennials are “immediate” consumers. They expect to access things quickly and easily – whether it’s access to transport through Uber, satiating food cravings through online food orders, or finding their next career opportunity using an online recruitment platform.
As such, using ‘offline’ channels to try and reach them with job vacancies could result in you losing out to other brands who are leveraging the power of Pnet’s online recruitment platform.
Start with an engaging job advert
To attract the best Gen Y and Gen Z candidates, your job ads need to reflect more than a ‘laundry list’ of requirements. “Purpose” is a powerful decider for South Africa’s Youth.
Their focus is on building careers and making money, but their careers and hobbies feed strongly into their sense of self. This leads them to be both discerning and highly critical. Your job adverts must be factual, succinct and inspirational.
When it comes to creating an ideal online job advert, there are some important Dos and Don’ts to keep in mind, however your listing’s success will ultimately depend on the sophistication of a recruitment portal’s technology combined with the size and reach of its jobseeker database.
“At the end of the day, posting a job advert is not just about making a job sound attractive to the candidate,” says Leigh-Anne Cullen, Pnet’s Product Manager.
“The way the information is integrated into our platform is enabled by our smart job-matching technology, which focuses on automating screening, optimising selection and eliminating bias from the recruitment process.”
“This is critical when it comes to matching the right candidates to the right vacancies and significantly affects how job adverts perform.”
The sophistication of specialist online recruitment platforms ensures that the right candidates see your job adverts – not only allowing you to attract fresh talent, but also to find quality candidates who are actively looking to move.
And, if you only require a once-off listing, there are eCommerce products that can be purchased online without a subscription.
Attracting the best of South Africa’s Youth can be a daunting prospect for SMEs, yet hiring the right person for the job is critical to business success.
As an SME owner, it is possible to enjoy a seamless recruitment process, saving both time and money, without having a dedicated HR or Talent Acquisition manager. The magic happens when you partner with Pnet.
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