Hiring for Tomorrow: How to Attract and Keep the Next Generation

We’re headed for one of the greatest generational talent turnovers in retail history. By 2030, Gen Z and Millennials are projected to make up 74% of the global workforce. The real question for retailers isn’t whether to adapt, but how fast. Hiring for tomorrow means rethinking what matters to this next wave of talent—and how that can be a silver lining for our industry if we rise to meet the challenge.

The New Rules: What the Survey Tells Us

This year’s Deloitte survey tapped into over 22,000 Gen Z and Millennial respondents across 44 countries, making it the largest, most telling workplace check-in there is. What they revealed matters for every retailer, wholesaler, and workshop supervisor in Australia:

• Financial worries are front and centre. Nearly half cite financial insecurity as a significant source of anxiety. Cost of living, pay transparency, and long-term security all figure heavily in their job decisions.

• Learning and development is non-negotiable. 70% of Gen Z are building new skills each week, often on their own time. Training is a “must-have”, not just an onboarding perk but a constant expectation.

• Well-being, mental health, and meaning matter deeply. Upwards of 46% report feeling stressed much or most of the time; workplace flexibility, wellbeing support, and an employer’s values are major draws or deal-breakers.

• Values and ethics are decisive. Sustainability, diversity, and purpose aren’t buzzwords, they’re requirements, with two-thirds actively researching a company’s values before applying (and leaving quickly if actions don’t add up).

• AI and tech skills are expected, but so are soft skills. Gen Z invest heavily in learning adaptability, empathy, and collaboration as automation grows.

Why Should the Retail Industry Care?

Millennials and Gen Z are already shaping the ways products are bought, sold, and even manufactured, and they are the future of multi-generational business succession.

If businesses don’t adapt their practices, the retail industry risks missing out on an entire generation of hungry, creative staff. Even worse still, legacy skills like the ability to repair or alter and nuanced history, may be lost if they're not passed on in a format younger staff will embrace. Your next sales superstar, social media wiz, or product designer, may not look or act like their predecessors, but they’re every bit as valuable, if you know how to spot and nurture that potential.

What to Adapt Now

Here’s how to future-proof your talent pipeline:

1. Rewrite Job Requirements

Hire for skills and traits, not previous experience. Problem solving, ability to connect with people, and a genuine hunger to learn matters most. Use skills-based hiring, trial days, or even quick workplace challenges as part of recruiting, these can uncover strengths resumes miss.

2. Invest in Internal Training

With learning and development key to retention, make ongoing product, service, and people-skills training part of your culture. Pair new starters with experienced staff in mentorship “buddy” systems and allow Gen Z to share what they know, especially in digital realms. Grow together, not just top-down.

3. Showcase Values, Purpose, and Ethics

Be open about what matters to your business: sustainable materials, supporting local artisans, flexible schedules, ethical sourcing—get it into your job ads and onboarding. Authenticity is non-negotiable: this generation will check your claims and walk away if something doesn’t stack up.

4. Support Well-Being and Flexibility

If you want loyalty, offer recognition, fair scheduling, and real support for mental health. Take the stigma out of asking for time off, and celebrate progress, teamwork, and effort, not just sales totals. Job security, progression, and a healthy culture now matter more than “just having a job”.

5. Get Creative with Perks

Money counts, but so do learning budgets, recognition programs, opportunities to contribute to company decisions, and roles with variety. Think cross-training, side projects, or even letting ambitious younger staff take the lead on fresh social media campaigns or new-service programs.

Tactics for Attracting—and Keeping—Next Gen Talent

• Use social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn for recruitment marketing, and be transparent about pay, culture, and values.

• Offer and advertise non-traditional benefits: mental health support, paid training days, recognition awards, and flexible rosters.

• Prioritize continuous feedback over annual reviews.

Risks and Realities

I have been talking to retailers, and “what’s always worked”, now suddenly isn’t. Transitioning to this new model isn’t easy. It takes time, investment, and courage and there’s a risk some existing staff may resist. But the alternative is far riskier: an ageing workforce, stagnant practices, and a store culture that misses out on tomorrow’s ideas and talents.

Tomorrow’s Store, Today

Hiring for tomorrow isn’t about gimmicks or lowering standards; it’s about unlocking the huge potential already walking past (or scrolling past) your doors. Bring in the next generation by meeting them where they are: hungry for skill, hungry for meaning, and determined to work for businesses that match their values. In the long run, the companies that embrace this shift will not just survive, they’ll shine.

"People are not your most important asset. The right people are." – Jim Collins.