Mike is a dynamic employer branding expert with 20 years of experience, including a decade leading a top employer branding insights firm and another building media brands globally.
Generic "young, dynamic team" messaging does not work on Gen Z. Five employer branding strategies that address what this generation actually evaluates: proven values, sustainable work, social video, skills growth, and radical clarity on pay and AI.
Most EB reading lists recycle the same marketing titles. This list goes deeper: two practitioner books, two foundational academic papers, and one literature review that gives EB leaders a shared vocabulary and a stronger evidence base.
Headline unemployment figures still look relatively stable across many economies. Beneath those numbers sits a growing class of underemployed workers patching together income through gigs, freelance work, consulting, and side hustles, while struggling to regain stable employment.
For many people, a career is not just a way to earn. It is also status, structure, belonging, and identity. As AI reshapes skilled work, employer brands may need to offer something more grounded than lofty promises of purpose and authenticity.
Many employer branding briefs often aren’t really briefs at all. They’re shopping lists of activities without a clearly defined problem to solve. The result? Wasted time, diluted budgets and projects that struggle to deliver meaningful outcomes.