The spokesperson of the Employment Service, Milda Jankauskienė, noticed that the majority of young job seekers express significantly higher salary expectations and put forward other additional conditions.
Sometimes without even considering the content of the job advertisement. This is especially noticeable among persons with lower qualifications or less practice,” commented the representative of the Employment Service.
Adelė Meškinytė, head of communication projects at the personnel search and selection agency Emplonet, noticed that salary expectations can depend on various factors.
“Specialists usually associate a young person’s desire to earn more with either gambling or a lack of experience. A young person may not have studied the market yet, and may not know what salaries are offered for beginners.
It is also related to his social status – a person who has recently entered the labor market will probably not have (real) property yet, so he will seek to establish himself, when at that time the representatives of the older generations who already have property are not paying loans, this is a headache in most cases – already in the past, so employers will be able to entice them more easily with other benefits”, commented the specialist.
According to her, people of generation Z, born between 1997 and 2009, pay is the most important aspect when choosing jobs.
“54 percent in the McKinsey (2022) survey of young people, they said that they would leave the workplace because of an unsatisfactory salary. According to the Handshake 2023 Trends Report, even 70 percent
Personnel selection agencies operating in Lithuania would confirm similar trends. Today, young people with no experience are asking for 2 thousand. euros in hand. Statistics show that it is this generation that is experiencing greater economic anxiety than others, which could also lead to different priorities when choosing a job,” the representative of the company reviewed the research.
Want to earn at least 1 thousand euros
Henrika Bivainienė, managing partner of the human resources and selection solutions company “Amston”, assured that in all sectors and experience levels, remuneration is the most important factor for employee motivation.
Nevertheless, we find that compensation is more important to junior professionals than to experienced employees. For the latter, professional fulfillment, a team, and freedom of decision-making are almost necessary in addition to adequate remuneration at work. Because of these aspects, experienced workers are even ready to compromise on compensation.
It is also important to mention that younger professionals have too little professional experience to objectively assess the remuneration levels offered by the company. Therefore, they usually ask for the highest cut limit – rather out of inexperience than greed,” the specialist noted.
According to her, junior specialists usually expect to earn at least 1 thousand. euros after taxes.
“Unable to offer a competitive salary, employers often miss out on attracting talent.” Nevertheless, in pursuit of the desired position, people are often ready to receive even a smaller reward, if next to it they will have motivating additional benefits – a strong team, freedom of decision-making or an inspiring manager”, commented H. Bivaitienė.
He is asking for a salary increase and better working conditions
The spokesperson of the Employment Service, Milda Jankauskienė, calculated that two-fifths of Lithuanian employers recorded the increasing number of requests from employees to increase wages in recent years, one-third – to improve physical working conditions, and one-fifth – to work remotely.
Companies in information and communication, financial and insurance activities, professional, scientific and technical activities, and public administration institutions recorded increasing requests to work remotely more often than to increase wages.
Such a phenomenon recorded more often than in other sectors was mentioned by public management and educational institutions, which have limited opportunities to increase wages”, noted the representative of the Employment Service.
According to her, employers notice that employees express their wishes more boldly and more often, not only for salary increases, but also for improving physical working conditions or the ability to work remotely.
“More frequent requests for wage increases are determined by objective reasons associated with the economic situation – inflation and the like. However, the need for better working conditions reflects a change in people’s attitudes towards work-life balance.
Work as a value has acquired a new meaning in the modern world. It must ensure the employee’s financial and emotional security, mobility, self-esteem growth, and learning opportunities. Employers struggling to attract talent should not forget this,” said M. Jankauskienė.
You notice a different trend
Jurgis Kovas, head of the recruitment company “Biuro”, noticed the opposite trend.
“The data we have on the expectations of candidates does not show that younger candidates want to earn more, rather the opposite – a little less.” However, more often we don’t ask how much the candidate wants to earn, but what salary they could start with – the difference between the questions is small, but the answer can be 10 times different.
Data from several years show that the wage gap between young people and older people is decreasing in Lithuania, which is common in Scandinavia or Western Europe, but was unusual in the East. An experienced specialist could earn 2-3 times more than a novice 10-15 years ago, and now the difference is measured in tens of percent. This flattening of wages can create an image for managers that young people have unrealistic expectations, because they received a much lower salary at the beginning of their careers when they did similar work,” commented the specialist.
According to him, it should also be taken into account that salary ranges, which must be indicated in advertisements, have recently helped to manage salary expectations.
“So, if the candidate has already applied himself, most likely the salary more or less corresponds to the expectation.
Moreover, at least among young people, salary is not a significant reason for rejecting a job offer. However, when evaluating the employment data of young people, we drew attention to another trend – young people are more mobile, so they change jobs more often, but this is not determined by salary. A more common reason for changing jobs is that, without trying the position, it is more difficult for young people to assess themselves whether the job functions will be suitable, whether they will like it”, commented J. Kovas.
Which leads to a higher salary
According to Mr. Kovo, the amount of salary depends mostly on the sector, for example, in IT and finance where up to 20% can be received for the same skills or position. more.
“Activities and skills also have an impact – experience is not valuable in itself, what is valuable are the skills one has – one person can acquire them in a year, another in a week,” said the specialist.
A. Meškinytė also agreed that the main factor determining the salary is the sector of activity in which the job position is offered.
“For example, I have no doubt that a mid-level, and sometimes a beginner, IT specialist will earn more than an experienced museum or teacher. Those specialists who are lacking in the market are also more likely to receive a higher salary.
It is worth noting that a competitive, higher salary is one of the benefits offered by organizations. So sometimes the organization, not being able to offer such benefits as a flexible form of work, balance between work and life, health insurance, etc., will have to somehow remain competitive and will choose a higher salary as its uniqueness,” commented the specialist.
According to her, the issue of salary also depends on the employee himself – if he managed to learn a lot in a shorter period of time, raised his qualifications, his value as an employee will increase faster.
“It is not for nothing that it is said that the future belongs to those employees who are constantly learning, raising their qualifications, improving, and not sitting at the same comfortable point.
It is interesting that, as studies show, a more frequent change of workplaces can also lead to higher incomes”, observed A. Meškinytė.
Tags: Young experience thousand euros hand greed misunderstanding
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