Future Talent
barometer.
The Future Talent Barometer is a quarterly view of how students think about work. Each report draws on 4,000 voices across the UK, US, and Europe, it reveals the signals shaping attraction, decision-making, and the future workforce for employers.
Understanding future talent
and what they actually think.
The Future Talent Barometer captures how students really think about work, based on quarterly 'Signals' research across key markets including the UK, US, Europe and Asia.
We analyse the data to identify a set of signals, clear patterns in attitudes, expectations, and decision-making. These signals cut through noise and highlight what’s shifting, not just what’s static.
Our objective is simple: give employers a reliable, ongoing view of what's important to future talent, so they can make better decisions about attraction, engagement, and long-term workforce strategy.
How It Works
Each quarter we survey 4,000 students
We capture attitudes to work, and career decisions. We analyse the data to identify consistent patterns, our 'signals' then interpret what they mean for employers.
The output is both clear and usable: structured insight, sharp commentary, and practical implications. You get a grounded view of what’s changing, why it matters, and how to respond, whether that’s shaping your proposition, refining messaging, or improving conversion across the hiring journey.
What We Publish
Four Signal Reports. One Annual Barometer
Each quarter, we publish a focused Signals Report, unpacking the most important shifts in how students think about work.
These build into our annual Barometer. A comprehensive view of the year’s defining trends with a look forward into the next 12 months.
Together, they give you both immediacy and depth: what’s changing now, and what it means over time.
Access the Insight
See the signals. Apply them
Explore the latest headline signals and themes on this page, join our quarterly sessions where we unpack the data in detail, or work with us directly to interrogate what it means for your organisation. Whether you want a broad view or something more specific, we make the insight accessible and usable, so you can move from understanding to action.
From the data
Sarah & Sam review
the summer signals
Sarah Wardle & Sam Hunter share their views on the most important shifts emerging from the latest Barometer. Find out what’s changing, what it means, and where employers should focus next.
Six themes shaping future talent
From our latest data, the Summer Signals, six clear themes are emerging. Each reflects a shift in how students think about work, and their own futures. Together, they highlight where expectations are changing, where assumptions no longer hold, and where employers need to respond.
Across every market we surveyed, one message came through consistently. Early talent isn’t asking employers to make recruitment easier. They’re asking them to make it understandable.
The Summer edition of the Future Talent Barometer reveals a generation that accepts recruitment will be competitive and increasingly automated, but is struggling to trust a process it cannot see.
Young people are not simply asking why they were rejected. They want to understand what employers are really looking for, how applications are assessed and where technology influences the decision. When employers leave those questions unanswered, candidates create their own explanations: that nobody reviewed their application, that AI made the decision, or that success depends more on luck and connections than merit.
The result is more damaging than disappointment. It is a growing sense that recruitment is being conducted in bad faith.
The answer is not to remove automation. It is to restore clarity and reciprocity. Explain how the process works and what each stage assesses. Be open about the role technology plays. Describe what strong candidates demonstrate, use language people can understand and offer an honest picture of the experience after hire.
In a market focused on making recruitment faster and more efficient, the employers that stand out may be those that make it easiest to understand. Because for early talent, transparency is no longer a finishing touch to the candidate experience. It is the foundation of trust.
We build talent brands people want to work for. That starts with knowledge and insight
With more than a decade as one of the world's leading employer brand agencies, we can help you build a talent brand that adds real business value
If we can help you, we'd love to hear from you. We enjoy a coffee and a chat.