Why it’s crucial to secure and engage young talent

Young workers are the future of the workforce. Investing in this new generation of leaders is crucial and can help strengthen businesses’ potential.

Young workers can bring a variety of benefits to an organisation. According to UNICEF, the six key advantages are:

1. New energy and perspective
2. Workforce development
3. Better leverage of resources
4. Tech advancement and early adoption
5. Adaptability and agility
6. Increased corporate citizenship ratings

“We have a skills shortage – in many sectors and job types … You can’t buy your way out of this, and more organisations are committing to build the skills and capability they need for the future,” commented Tim Way, director of customer service at The Career Conversation.

Mr Way said young workers could bring better knowledge of technology into their role, allowing businesses to thrive in the digital age of work.

“Young talents, who bring learning agility, a digital mindset, and a long career runway ahead of them, are a great profile of talent to be introducing and investing in,” he explained.

“They bring new ideas, philosophies and thinking. Organisations know they need to keep evolving, and young talent can influence culture at all levels in an organisation.”

Mr Way continued: “Plus, it’s more cost-effective to introduce bright young minds into the bottom of your labour pyramid and push everyone else up.”

Organisations need to “walk the talk” and begin investing in young talent if they’re to keep up with the competition.

“Our advice is to hire more at the bottom and keep reskilling and moving your talent is strategy organisations are embracing. Young talents are the fuel for this resourcing engine,” said Mr Way

“The Australian Association of Graduate Employers 2023 report lists the top three reasons graduates join a company as:

1. Career progression
2. Quality of training and development
3. Company culture

“These reasons are also the reason young workers leave organisations quickly,” added Mr Way.

Investing in young talent means more than just hiring them, however. Ongoing learning and development is crucial to getting the most out of them.

Mr Way discussed: “To get the dividend of capacity and capability young talent can bring to an organisation, you need to invest in all aspects of their development and welfare.”

“There’s no point having a flashy recruitment campaign if the lived experience is underwhelming. This generation [doesn’t] hang around, and they’ll happily share their experience far and wide on social media.”

The importance of these hiring policies and the benefits they can bring to an organisation were further discussed in the Engaging Graduate Talent report by The Career Conversation.