In its fifth regular Randstad Employer Brand Research survey (REBR), Randstad compares the factors that influence people’s choice of an employer. Like every year, except for the extraordinary year 2020 influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the respondents cited the salary as the most important factor. Job security also continues to score very high. However, compared to the results of the 2018 survey, the importance of a pleasant work atmosphere and company financial health (which Czechs value above the European average) has increased.
Randstad conducts Employer Brand Research in over 30 countries worldwide. The Czech Republic was first included in the survey in 2018. In terms of preferences when choosing an employer, the survey compares the five most important parameters – salary and benefits, job security, financial health, work atmosphere and interesting job content. An attractive salary and benefits remain the most important factor for the Czechs – but also for the Poles, Hungarians, French and Austrians –, although it has decreased slightly year on year from 74% to 70%. For Germans, job security is the most important aspect.
Among Czechs, Randstad recorded the largest increase (11% over the last 5 years) in the importance of a pleasant work atmosphere (which is ranked first in Italy), as well as the company’s financial health. “The financial health of the company goes hand in hand with job security, which is just as important for Czechs this year as it was five years ago. The importance of the work atmosphere has started to grow only in the last two years. Many companies have started to make efforts in this area and the respondents are sensitive to that. Companies have also realised that ensuring a pleasant work atmosphere is one of the key ways in which they can attract promising candidates,” says Jacek Kowalak, CEO of Randstad Czech Republic. The financial health of the company is important for Hungarian and German workers too, but it did not even rank among the top five most important factors in France, Poland and Italy. Instead, those employees prefer other aspects such as career progression options.
The survey also shows that respondents’ preferences in choosing an employer vary according to their gender, age, education and field of work. “In the Czech Republic, job security is generally very important for women in particular, who are less willing to take risks, while men and young people under 24 are more relaxed in this respect. Women are also more likely to look for jobs based on the work atmosphere, even in as much as 70% of cases,” explains Jacek Kowalak. Interesting job content is valued mainly by university-educated people (62%); it is not so important for blue-collar workers (49%), who are more interested in job security, but even there its relative importance has decreased by 4% compared to the previous year.
