ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Media, Creative, and Cultural Industries
Decoding Gen Z Talent Attraction: How Employer Branding Shapes Media Sector Employment Intentions
Provisionally accepted
- 1Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
- 2Gulf University for Science & Technology, Hawally, Kuwait
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The influx of Gen Zs in the contemporary workforce and their differing perceptions and attitudes towards organizational values led this study to examine what employer values attract the best talent among the younger population, who are nearing the completion of their courses and are actively seeking employment. Although Gen Z's employer preference attributes and factors influencing their intent to join diverse industries have received considerable focus, the media sector has been curiously left out. Additionally, the media industry is experiencing a decline in employment opportunities, with a shortage of secure and well-paying jobs, as well as a decrease in college placements. Hence, investigating which PBV in media organizations attract Gen Zs became the study's premise, carried out through the utilization of Berthon et al.'s (2005) employer attractiveness scale. Nineteen items relevant to the study's aim were included in the survey instrument to collect responses from 312 media students from undergraduate colleges across India who had completed at least one industry internship and a project experience lasting 6 months. The multiple regression analysis revealed that, except for social value, the other four values have a significant impact on Gen Z's PBV and employment intention in Indian media organisations. The results emphasize the importance of developing an employer branding strategy that focuses on attractiveness to help media organizations attract culturally compatible Gen Z candidates. The decoding outlines variation in employer attractiveness dimensions across cultural contexts (particularly in Asian and emerging economies) and generational backgrounds. The decoding also aims to show the effectiveness of Berthon et al's (2005) employer attractiveness scale, providing valuable insights for practitioners in the media sector and researchers.
Keywords: Perceived brand value, HR, media, Gen Z, Employment, Intention, Attitude, talent
Received: 21 Jul 2025; Accepted: 18 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Iyer, Krishnan, Al Hajj and Saadouli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kavitha Venkatasubramany Iyer
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