Predictors of Applicant Attraction among Gen-X and Millennials: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

International Journal of Manpower

Applicant attraction is critical for organizational success and helps build competitive advantage. The shortage of suitable applicants may result in unfilled vacancies, sub-optimal employee performance, leading to organizational failure. As individual preferences differ among generational cohorts, a one-size-fits-all approach towards the applicants is likely to be ineffective. The multi-generational workplace has the largest proportion of both Gen-X and millennial employees. Generational differences exist in modern organizations, but scholarly work investigating the salient predictors of applicant attraction between the Gen-X and millennial cohorts is missing. This study of 1949 working employees in India, representing Gen-X and millennial generations, explores critical factors that differentially impact millennial and Gen-X members’ attraction towards an organization. This study indicates the millennials are more attracted by the type of work offered by organizations and the cultural fit with the organization. As compared to the Gen-X employees, an interesting behavior of the millennial cohort is the tendency to be attracted to other organizations, even if they are satisfied with their current jobs. Organizational Image and Pay as predictors of applicant attraction were equally important for both Gen-X and Millennial cohorts.