The Employer Brand as a Symbolic Resource - Generation Y "consumption" of the Employer Brand

Abstract: The postmodern western society has influenced the labour market, which is now said to become increasingly similar to the contemporary consumer market. Furthermore, a new generation, Generation Y, has emerged on the labour market and contributes to this development. The changing labour market has forced companies to find new ways to develop a strong employer brand in order to attract, motivate and retain competent employees. The strategy to accomplish this has during the last decades resulted in an entire research field, referred to as employer branding. Previous research on employer branding has to a large extent focused on the possible gains of the employer. This master thesis wishes to instead highlight the position and viewpoint of the employees and the possible advantages gained from the employer brand. By attempting to look upon employees as strategic ‘consumers’ of the employer brand, the authors wish to reach a deeper understanding of the outcomes of employer branding. In order to accomplish this, a qualitative case study at Siemens Sweden has been conducted, using semi-structured interviews. The results of the collected empirical data provided interesting but ambiguous answers. While identifying with the employer brand, the employees did not demonstrate ‘consumption’ of the employer brand as a symbolic resource in their identity creation. The reasons for why employees tended to identify with the employer brand while still being unwilling or unable to use it as a symbolic resource when creating their social identity were as follows: 1) the fact that work task and profession preceded the employer brand, 2) insufficient public familiarity with the employer brand and the impact of a construed external image, 3) the ‘value’ incorporated in economic compensation, 4) the employees lack of choice.