Employee expectations in 2026: what attracts and retains professionals?

Based on the findings of the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026 for the finance, logistics, engineering and IT sectors, the fundamental expectations are similar in many respects, but important differences also emerge between industries. Employers should therefore consider not only what employees generally expect, but also which factors have the greatest impact on attraction and long-term engagement within their own sector and among different employee groups.

What do employees expect from employers in 2026?

One of the strongest common themes across the four sectors examined is the role of compensation. Salary and benefits rank among the most important characteristics of an ideal employer in finance, logistics, engineering and IT alike. At the same time, the research also shows that employee decisions are increasingly shaped by several factors together.

In engineering and technology, for example, compensation is closely followed by work-life balance, career opportunities, job security and equal opportunities. Randstad's interpretation suggests that the relatively small differences between these factors indicate that employees are looking for a balanced employer offering rather than one single outstanding benefit.

A similar trend can be seen in logistics. For Hungarian professionals, competitive pay and benefits are accompanied by job security and a pleasant working atmosphere as key considerations. Compensation is followed by job stability and work-life balance, meaning that employees are looking for workplaces that are financially attractive while also providing stability and supporting personal wellbeing.

In the IT sector, this is complemented by the importance of the technological environment. Hungarian IT professionals place particular value on access to modern technologies alongside competitive compensation and work-life balance.

According to the available international data for the finance sector, salary and benefits also top the ranking, followed by work-life balance, career opportunities, equal opportunities and job security.

How do expectations differ across the four sectors?

*The findings for the finance sector are based on the international sector report.

Despite the differences, one common pattern is clear: salary is an entry-level requirement, while long-term employer attractiveness depends on the combined fulfilment of several factors.

Why is competitive pay not enough on its own?

The central role of compensation does not mean that all other factors have become secondary. Quite the opposite: one of the key lessons of the research is that employees increasingly assess the overall employer experience.

The logistics research illustrates this particularly clearly. Although salary and benefits remain among the most important factors in attraction and retention, employees also consider flexibility, workplace culture, work-life balance and career development alongside compensation.

Compensation is also one of the areas where there can be a significant gap between expectations and employer performance. In the logistics sector, salary and benefits show the largest difference, while shortcomings also remain in work-life balance and career development.

The situation is similar in engineering: although overall employer ratings are favourable, there is still a noticeable difference between expectations and actual experience in terms of compensation and career opportunities.

In the IT sector, Hungarian findings show that money remains one of the most important reasons why skilled professionals change jobs, while there is also room for improvement in career opportunities, continuous learning and innovative working environments.

This has an important implication for employer branding: communicating attractive values is not enough. Employees must also experience them in everyday operations.

What increases employee retention in each sector?

One of the biggest challenges in employee retention is the gap between expectations and the actual employee experience.

According to the engineering research, roughly one in four professionals plans to change jobs within the next six months. The main reasons for leaving include low pay, poor work-life balance, limited career opportunities and an unfavourable workplace atmosphere.

This suggests that retention problems do not necessarily arise because entirely new employee needs have emerged. Rather, they often result from employers not consistently delivering on the promises that originally led employees to choose the company.

The logistics report highlights the same issue: widening expectation gaps increase retention pressure, while employee departures are driven not simply by changing needs but by inconsistent delivery against fundamental expectations.

International findings from the finance sector likewise show that employee mobility is linked to specific shortcomings. Among younger employees, better work-life balance is more strongly associated with job changes, while among older employees inadequate compensation and management quality play a greater role. In Europe, dissatisfaction with pay represents a particularly significant risk.

From a retention perspective, organisations should therefore regularly ask themselves three questions:

• does the organisation deliver what its employer brand promises;
• does the company consider the same factors important as its own employees;
• does growing dissatisfaction in a critical area become visible early enough?

Do all generations expect the same from their workplace?

No. One of the important lessons of the reports is that even within the same sector, employees should not be treated as one homogeneous group.

In logistics, younger generations place greater emphasis on employability, development opportunities and fairness, while older employees attach more importance to stability, financial reliability and a manageable workload.

In engineering, learning and development are similarly more prominent among younger employees, while financial security is more important for older generations.

In the Hungarian IT labour market, younger professionals are looking for faster career progression, flexibility and digital skills development. More experienced employees, by contrast, place greater emphasis on reliable working conditions, organisational stability and a clear future outlook.

The same differences appear in the international finance data. Among younger employees, wellbeing and flexibility are more closely associated with a good work-life balance, while older employees are more likely to link it to a manageable workload and personal fulfilment.

In practice, this means that a consistent employer value proposition does not necessarily mean offering exactly the same proposition to every employee. The core values of the EVP may be shared, but their emphasis should be adapted to different life situations, career stages and employee groups.

What does this mean for HR?

Five areas emerge from the findings across the four sectors as particularly important for employer attractiveness and retention in 2026.

1. Compensation should be competitive and easy to understand

Pay is a decisive factor in every sector examined. At the same time, compensation systems need to be not only competitive but also consistent and transparent. This is especially relevant as pay transparency becomes more important: well-structured job architectures and objective pay criteria are increasingly important for employee trust as well. NEXON's professional materials on pay transparency also emphasise the importance of transparent, objective and justifiable compensation practices.

2. Make development opportunities visible

Especially in IT and engineering, and among younger employees, it is important not only that development opportunities exist but also that employees can clearly see how they can progress from one role or competency level to the next.

3. Flexibility should not be just an employer branding message

Work-life balance is among the most important considerations in several sectors. However, it must also be reflected in day-to-day operations, for example in work organisation, leave management and workload.

4. Treat employee experience as an ongoing process

Employer branding does not end with a successful hire. Onboarding, personnel administration, working time and leave management, benefits, management communication and development opportunities all shape how employees experience the company.

5. Use data to support retention decisions as well

When HR data is spread across different systems, spreadsheets or manual processes, it is harder to identify organisational changes in time. A unified digital HR environment, by contrast, can connect different stages of the employee lifecycle and provide up-to-date information for management decisions.

How can digitalisation support the employee experience?

Many of the expectations emerging from the Randstad research are not solely employer branding issues. Employees also form their view of a company through the HR processes they experience every day.

It creates a very different experience when a leave request requires several emails and manual approvals compared with a process that is transparent and easy to track. It also matters whether employees can easily access their own documents and information, and whether managers have the data they need to make decisions affecting their teams.

HR digitalisation is therefore not a technological goal in itself. An integrated HR system can connect personnel administration, working time management, payroll, self-service functions and HR analytics. This can reduce manual administration while also creating more transparent employee processes and more up-to-date decision support. NEXON eHR supports exactly this kind of connected operation across the entire HR lifecycle.

Technology alone, of course, cannot create competitive pay, good leadership culture or career opportunities. However, it can play an important role in enabling HR to devote more attention to the strategic issues that also influence employee retention instead of spending time on manual administration.

What can we learn from the findings across the four sectors?

There are significant differences between the finance, logistics, engineering and IT sectors, yet the common direction is clear. Employee expectations are no longer centred around a single factor.

Competitive compensation remains fundamental, but security, development opportunities, flexibility, work-life balance and the day-to-day employee experience also determine how attractive an employer is perceived to be and how long employees want to stay.

An employer brand can therefore only be credible when the promise communicated externally is aligned with the reality employees experience within the organisation. The research suggests that retention risks tend to increase precisely in those areas where this alignment breaks down.

HR's role is therefore becoming less about creating one “perfect” employer proposition for everyone. It is increasingly about understanding the needs of different employee groups, measuring organisational performance and creating a consistent employee experience in which the employer promise is reflected in everyday reality.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

Source: Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026 – Finance Professionals, Logistics, Engineering and IT Sector Report, as well as the related Hungarian sector materials.