How will the next big workforce demographic group affect the recruitment industry?

According to the PEW Research Centre in the US, the ‘Millenials’ generation—that is, those born around the late 1970s to the turn of the millenium—has already overtaken both Generation X and Baby Boomers as the largest group in the workforce.

In HR, this is having a big impact on how companies adjust their approach to the work-life balance and wellness programmes they encourage their employees to adopt.

Dinesh Sheth of SHRM’s Executive Network puts it this way “Younger employees want to work in an environment in which they play an active role in managing their health and well-being and, according to a study by Aon Hewitt, the National Business Group on Health and the Future’s Company, there is a clear opportunity to engage with this demographic. For years, there has been a misconception that perks such as openwork spaces, bean bags, and ping pong tables were what Millennials were looking for, but there’s a lot more to understanding this cohort. They desire the tools to better manage their lives—whether physically, emotionally, or financially—and to participate in a meaningfully active lifestyle. With that in mind, employers should be developing programs that incentivise healthier lifestyles, engage with their company’s brand, and lower long-term costs.”

Similarly, the behaviours and habits of this demographic are such that there’s a definite mis-match with the very dated workings of the recruitment business.

Today’s Millennials want a single platform to accomplish tasks. They expect a benefits program to be accessible on the go, from any location and on any device. A program that requires users to download multiple apps, go through different logins, or can only be accessed through a desktop computer are sure to be underutilised, if used at all.

It’s therefore incredibly timely that a recruitment platform like Vidu is set to shake up the way Millenials, for one, approach finding work.

Vidu Founder, Nicky Jones, comments: “The sheer numbers of younger employees using mobile or tablet as their communication means of choice, opens up the huge potential for video and social to be used in their job searches. It’s no exaggeration to claim that a young person could record a video, select their ‘public’ social feeds and post a job application in their coffee break. They’re savvy enough to do it, and the recruitment business hasn’t, as yet, engaged with them.”

Once the Vidu platform has taken off, recruiters will begin to wonder how they managed without it.