How to Hire – and Keep – High-Salary Workers in Today’s Market

Key takeaways

• High-salary candidates are motivated more by the promise of opportunity than by dissatisfaction with their current jobs, but both are meaningful drivers in the job search.
• The most successful hiring strategies are human-first and focused on transparency, flexibility and growth opportunities.
• Outdated hiring mentalities and failing to prioritise employee retention can be major pitfalls for employers in the high-salary market.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those seeking high-salary jobs say it’s hard to get hired right now, according to a recent Indeed-commissioned Harris Poll survey of US and Canadian workers and employers. It’s clear why hiring high-salary workers is more difficult. But besides a shorter time to hire, what do these candidates actually want?

Survey responses from jobseekers reveal their priorities during the job search. With that, the data spotlights an opportunity for employers to return to a more people-centric mentality in their hiring and retention strategies – something they may have lost sight of in recent years. 

‘Studies show that when you put people first, business follows,’ Indeed Senior Talent Strategy Advisor Kyle M.K. notes. ‘The best results don’t come from squeezing every drop out of people – they come from creating a garden where people can grow and thrive’.

In Australia, this trend is reflected in published data from the Indeed Global Talent Report: Insights into the Multigenerational Workforce (AU), which shows that 37% of Gen Z jobseekers and 34% of Millennials are actively looking for or open to a new job, compared to 22% of Gen X and 14% of Baby Boomers.² This generational shift underscores how younger Australians – who increasingly make up the high-salary talent pool – are especially motivated by new opportunities and career growth. 

In this article, we’ll examine the top motivating factors that drive high-salary candidates in their job searches, what employers can learn from the data and how organisations can modernise their hiring strategies to better attract and retain highly paid workers. 

What motivates high-salary workers in their job searches?

When asked what drives them in their job searches, survey participants had 16 options to choose from. Their responses depict a mindset in which high-salary workers are running towards opportunity, more so than they are running away from problems: 

In Australia, these global motivators are echoed, but with some important local nuances. For example, 65% of Gen Z jobseekers in Australia say they are actively looking for or open to a new job – the highest of any age group, with Millennials not far behind.² This highlights that opportunity gain is an even stronger motivator among younger Australians, who are increasingly making up the high-salary talent pool. 

Primary motivations = opportunity gain

Unsurprisingly, money ranked highest on the list of motivations: 3 out of 5 candidates (60%) report higher pay as a key motivating factor in their job searches. Similarly, 2 out of 5 candidates (40%)** cite better benefits as a top driver. Flexible hours, company culture and flexibility to work remotely round out the top five.

[DATA VISUALISATION 1]

Top factors motivating high-salary candidates in their job searches
Higher salary	60%
Better benefits	40%**
Flexible hours	36%
Better company culture	32%
Ability to work from home	30%

What the data tells us: The top five things highly compensated candidates seek are all characterised by opportunity gain, suggesting that high-salary workers are driven by a desire for more and better, above all. It also feeds into the narrative that employers are unable or unwilling to move on key issues, as the gap between jobseeker expectations and employer offerings continues to widen.

🔍DATA DEEP DIVE: **The 40% figure represents an average across all survey respondents who say they’re looking for better benefits.

Reflecting this, the high proportion of Gen Z and Millennial jobseekers in Australia who are open to new roles highlights the need for employers to offer clear pathways for advancement and professional development if they want to attract and retain high-salary talent.

Salary and benefits remain foundational across generations. However, Gen Z and Millennials in Australia place at least as much emphasis on flexible work and work life balance. Across cohorts, around half of jobseekers and employers nominate salary, flexibility and work life balance as the most effective retention levers, with Gen X and Baby Boomers weighting them even more.

Given this, and the high share of Gen Z and Millennial jobseekers in Australia who are open to new roles, employers need to offer clear pathways for advancement and professional development to attract and retain high-salary talent.

In Australia, flexibility and work life balance are as important as pay for younger generations, and employer branding is especially important for attracting Gen Z and Millennials, who are more likely to say that an organisation’s purpose or mission is important to retention.

Secondary drivers: What holds high-salary workers back in Australia?

While the promise of new opportunities is a powerful motivator for high-salary jobseekers in Australia, there are also distinct barriers and challenges that shape their job search and career progression – many of which are unique to the local market and the realities of a multi-generational workforce.

One of the most significant obstacles is ageism. More than half (55%) of Australian Baby Boomers say that age has stood in the way of obtaining a job, and over a third (35%) report that it has interfered with their ability to receive raises, promotions or new opportunities.² Gen X jobseekers are also more likely than Millennials or Gen Z to see age as a barrier to employment and advancement. Interestingly, employers tend to underestimate the impact of age, often ranking it much lower as a perceived obstacle compared to jobseekers themselves. 

Communication differences are another major challenge, especially in multi-generational teams. About one-third of all respondents cite generational differences in communication style and expectations as the biggest challenge in multi-generational companies. For Gen Z employers, clashing views and opinions are even more of a concern, with 35% highlighting this as a key issue.² These communication gaps can lead to misunderstandings and friction, making it harder to build cohesive teams. 

Stereotypes also persist across generations. Older workers are most likely to be seen as inflexible – 27% of both jobseekers and employers associate this trait with Baby Boomers.² Meanwhile, Gen Z is often described as overly reliant on technology, lazy or entitled – even by Gen Z themselves. These perceptions can create barriers to collaboration and mutual respect in the workplace. 

Retention and job-hopping present additional challenges. Younger generations, particularly Gen Z, are far more likely to change jobs: 65% of Gen Z jobseekers in Australia say they are actively looking for or open to a new job – the highest of any age group.² Nearly three-quarters of both employers and jobseekers (73%) agree that younger generations are more likely to job-hop, which can be a source of frustration for employers and complicate retention strategies.² 

Finally, the shift towards skills-first hiring is gaining traction, but not without generational divides. Forty per cent of employers and 37% of jobseekers across all generations are comfortable with a skills-first approach to hiring, regardless of where or how skills were gained.² However, openness to AI and automation in hiring is much higher among Gen Z than Baby Boomers, highlighting differing attitudes towards technology and change. 

In summary, while high-salary workers in Australia are motivated by opportunity, they also face real barriers – ageism, communication gaps, persistent stereotypes and the challenges of retention in a rapidly evolving workforce. Addressing these issues requires employers to be proactive in fostering inclusive, flexible and skills-focused environments that support all generations.

Another uniquely Australian challenge is that a lack of familiarity with the company or its purpose is a more common issue when recruiting Gen Z (34%) and Millennials (23%) than with Gen X (17%) or Baby Boomers (13%).² This underscores the importance of strong employer branding and clear communication, especially for attracting and retaining younger high-salary candidates.

Taken together, the data is clear: People want jobs and employers that meet them where they are. Work should fit into people’s lives, not the other way around. But following years of global disruptions – from COVID and the Great Resignation to artificial intelligence (AI) and economic volatility – many employers have built hiring strategies that are overly complex and increasingly disconnected from the people they aim to serve. 

As M.K. notes, many simply ‘haven’t really had time to sit down and redesign their candidate and employee experiences’.

Four hiring mistakes that turn off high-salary candidates

An outdated hiring process that doesn’t put people first costs employers more than just time – it undermines your ability to land top talent. And if the way you hire is less than ideal, chances are your employee experience and retention strategy could use a refresh, too. Here are four common pitfalls that employers get stuck in when hiring and retention efforts have stalled and what you can do to address them.

Mistake #1: You’re using outdated hiring criteria and metrics for success

This might be an issue if… You prioritise credentials above all and filter candidates based primarily on years of experience, the university they graduated from or generic leadership titles. 

How to fix it: Shift to a skills-based hiring approach that prioritises capabilities over credentials. Consider how a candidate’s technical and relational skills may help them perform in the role you’re trying to fill with a focus on how they think, as opposed to what they’ve done. 

[CALLOUT BOX:]

💡Indeed user tip: Skills-based hiring is 2.5 times more predictive of job performance than screening for experience alone. To ensure you’re not missing out on top talent who can bring real value to your organisation, use Indeed Smart Sourcing to filter candidates by skills and other criteria that allow you to match and make quality hires faster. Learn more →

Kyle M.K. says: Try scenario-based interview questions tailored to actual challenges they might face in that role to assess how the candidate thinks, problem-solves and applies their skills in context. Some examples:

• Tell me what you would do if a senior stakeholder disagreed with your recommendation, even though you believe it’s the best option for the business.
• You’ve just been hired to improve a process no one has touched in two years. How would you assess what’s working and what needs to change?
• You’re working cross-functionally with a team that doesn’t fully understand your role or goals. How do you build alignment?

Mistake #2: Your candidate experience dates back to pre-COVID times  

This might be an issue if… Candidates ghost you throughout the hiring process, your talent attraction (TA) team spends most of its time writing job descriptions or it feels like a chore for recruiters to manage candidate communications.

How to fix it: Refresh your candidate experience, keeping in mind that jobseekers want transparency, flexibility and speed throughout the hiring process. Rethink the candidate journey from first touchpoint to final offer – and use AI to streamline the tedious administrative tasks so your team can shift its focus to building high-value human connections.

Kyle M.K. says: Always follow the jobseeker behaviour. Use data and feedback from previous hires to inform what’s working – and what’s not. If your candidates are more responsive to texts but the majority of your communications are still through email, it’s time to make a change.

Mistake #3: You haven’t prioritised learning and development

This might be an issue if…Training is an ‘as-needed’ afterthought, you expect new hires to ‘plug-and-play’ and hit the ground running or you don’t provide employees with ongoing support to grow and upskill. 

How to fix it: Treat learning and development as a core part of your hiring strategy and employee experience. Skills audits for new hires and employees can help identify gaps and opportunities among your workforce. Allocate time and resources for ongoing employee training, and normalise learning as part of the company culture. 

Kyle M.K. says: Hire for day one, train for day 90 – and beyond. Don’t expect candidates to meet 100% of your requirements; plan to invest in training for new hires while also providing ongoing learning opportunities for all employees.

Mistake #4: You’re too focused on attraction without thinking about retention

This might be an issue if… Your hiring goals are ‘complete’ once you’ve made the hire, without consideration for long-term employee engagement or growth opportunities, or employees who seem eager at the start leave within a year or two.

How to fix it: Design a more complete hiring strategy with back-end retention efforts built in. Design clear paths for growth and development, and be upfront with candidates and employees about what internal mobility looks like to reduce attrition in the long run. Your retention strategy should balance employees’ need to feel challenged with their desire for recognition and reward. 

Kyle M.K. says: Dual-track promotions – based on the idea that employees can advance their careers on a management track or as individual contributors – allow for more growth where traditional career ladders often reward only those who move into management.  Don’t think about your org structure as a pyramid with limited room at the top; re-imagine it as a skyscraper.

Hiring with purpose  

The challenges of hiring high-salary talent aren’t going to disappear, but the ways you can hire with a more human-focused mindset are well within reach. Employers who slow down just enough to hear what jobseekers are asking for can build stronger hiring strategies that attract top talent today and develop their potential for tomorrow. 

The Multigenerational report highlights that Australian employers see value in a multigenerational workforce, leveraging older workers' experience for managing change and identifying obstacles, while younger workers are seen as drivers of innovation and adaptability.² This diversity is a competitive advantage for organisations seeking to hire and keep high-salary workers, and supports the need for inclusive, age-diverse retention and development strategies.

‘Jobseekers want to contribute to something meaningful – to join a company with a mission they believe in that helps them achieve their own personal goals and dreams,’ M.K. says.

‘Nobody can predict where we’ll be in five years, but we can navigate it with purpose, as long as we’re guided by a north star that puts people first'.

Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.

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