A study by Infostud has shown that Generation Z has clearly defined expectations of employers, with trust, transparency and flexible working conditions among the most important factors. Experts on “Puls Srbije” said that these demands are a result of changing labour market conditions and the digital environment in which young people have grown up.
An Infostud study showed that Generation Z has clearly defined expectations of employers, placing particular importance on trust, open communication, opportunities for professional development and transparent working rules.
Miloš Turinski from Infostud spoke on the “Puls Srbije” programme about what young people today consider to be “top employers”. “These are essentially their aspirations and the way they imagine an ideal employer with whom they would build their careers and spend part of their working lives. It is an ecosystem that attracts them, but that does not mean the labour market always offers it to that extent.
Two years ago, we conducted a study which showed that young people expected a starting salary of around 90,000 dinars, and almost twice as much after just one year. Those are their expectations, while the reality of the market is different, and employers are not always able to meet them,” Turinski said.
Understanding young people’s expectations in the labour market
As he explained, the study is part of a broader analysis of the labour market and aims to show how young people perceive the ideal employer, noting that their views have often been accompanied by misguided generalizations and that growing up in a digital environment has significantly shaped their working habits and expectations. “With this study, we wanted to see what an ideal employer represents to young people and which companies they recognize as such. It is part of a broader study, ‘Vrh poslodavac Talent X’, which covers the entire labour market, while this particular analysis focuses only on young people. It is also important to point out that young people are often unfairly labelled negatively, even though they are a generation that has grown up in a digital environment and under completely different market conditions,” he said.
Turinski stressed that young people today have more job choices than previous generations, but also higher expectations regarding working conditions, particularly insisting on clear, open and transparent communication with employers. “Unlike previous generations, young people today have more choices, but also higher expectations when it comes to jobs and working conditions. They clearly know what they have to offer in the market and want their work to be valued appropriately.”
“The key thing they emphasise is open and transparent communication with the employer. This means they want to know the starting salary, the conditions for career advancement and the criteria for pay rises and bonuses, with a clear and fair reward system. Transparency is also becoming a standard in European practice today, precisely in order to reduce inequalities within companies,” he said.
“When it comes to flexibility, young people do not mean only working from home, but also having the possibility to organize their working hours and choose their working model, whether hybrid or fully remote. For them, it is important to have a balance between their professional and private lives, and for work not to jeopardize their mental health, but rather to be a part of life in which they can function well and stably,” Turinski explained on the “Puls Srbije” programme.
Source: Kurir, 20.08.2026
