How to Attract Talent? Field-Experimental Evidence on Emphasizing Flexibility and Career Opportunities in Job Advertisements

Job advertisements are a key tool for companies to attract talent. We conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which we vary the content of job advertisements for STEM positions at one of the largest technology firms in Europe. Specifically, we examine how emphasizing job flexibility and career advancement in job ads causally affects the firm's applicant pool. We find substantial treatment effects for entry-level positions, but not for senior-level roles. Highlighting job flexibility increases the total number of applicants – both female and male – while emphasizing career advancement increases applications only from men. Notably, both effects are entirely driven by applicants residing outside the federal state where the firm is located. In a separate survey experiment conducted among STEM students, we find that the content of job advertisements influences young professionals' perceptions of the work environment. In particular, highlighting career advancement shifts beliefs toward better career benefits, but also toward a lower work-life balance.