The luxury industry, particularly French brands, long synonymous art of livingof prestige and exclusivity, must today face a crisis of attractiveness. The luxury giants, once popular with young graduates looking for (experiences that are out of the ordinary), (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296319300621), are now struggling to attract the best talents, particularly those from Generation Z.
The latter redefine expectations and impose real introspection on luxury brands, sometimes criticized on the dimension ethical and responsible.
A generalized loss of attractiveness
According to a recent study, 61% of hiring projects in France in 2023 are considered difficult by employers, due to a growing shortage of qualified talent. This phenomenon is particularly acute in the luxury sector, where human capital is essential: passion for one’s profession, understanding of products, the importance of creativity and the service dimension make recruitment, integration even more crucial. and retaining the best profiles.
To find out more, we conducted interviews, between September 2023 and June 2024, with young people and managers of luxury companies (10 young professionals from Generation Z working in the luxury sector; 10 internal communications professionals , campus managers, HR and talent acquisition managers at L’Oréal, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Kering).
The new aspirations of youth
Our interviews highlighted a gap between the expectations of young professionals and practices in luxury. If the big houses recognize that the relationship with work has changed, they struggle to fully respond to new aspirations.
If other industries also experience recruitment difficulties, luxury companies, sometimes perceived as rigid, elitist, with strong internal competition, suffer from an image far removed from the current aspirations of young professionals. Generation Z seems to favor agile, ethically-minded companies ethics, passion for one’s work and well-being at work.
Luxury: the end of a dream
Historically, large luxury companies symbolized personal and professional accomplishment and the dimension of dreams that they conveyed and had no need for advertising or to question their managerial practices.
Conspicuous consumption is less well perceived in a context of growing environmental concerns. Young people are very sensitive to questions of ethics and social responsibility and seek to associate themselves with brands they identify with. They expect alignment between the company’s values and their own beliefs by moving towards pioneering brands that correspond to their aspirations. An HR professional mentions “they are more sensitive to everything that is the group’s action in terms of commitment… we have to justify ourselves, talk about our values, our actions, as if to see if it is real. We didn’t see that before. »
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The results of our study show that, although companies are aware of the changes, a gap remains between current luxury strategies and the ambitions of young people.
What relationship to work?
The quest for flexibility, essential for Generation Z, comes into conflict with a certain rigidity of luxury houses. The desire to quickly take on responsibilities comes up against organizational charts that are sometimes too hierarchical.
Young people are redefining relationship to work. For them, joining a luxury company is not just a question of prestige. Unlike previous generations, they are not simply looking for a brand but want an environment that reflects their personal values. An HR professional confides:
“They expect businesses to play an almost community role. They are looking for a corporate culture that offers a collective, inclusive and motivating experience. »
Young talents are looking for a human and stimulating work environment where they can feel involved, immersed in a collaborative and stimulating corporate culture. For them, work must be an experience that allows personal development. They also seek a balance between professional and personal life, an essential factor in their career choice.
Human capital at the heart of innovation
Young people, although seduced by the technical nature of luxury professions, also seek to ensure that their mission goes beyond the development of a quality offer: they want to put people at the center and participate in a creative adventure which gives meaning to their career.
Furthermore, to retain talent, it is no longer enough to train them: we must use learning to provide responsibilities in an environment conducive to creative autonomy. Training must be considered as an integral part of an experience, where the acquisition of skills is valued through a real development path. It’s about trusting by giving projects to carry out, even if the search for perfection in luxury can increase the need for control. A young professional confides “I need to be passionate, to feel that I am useful, that I am evolving, that I am growing”.
Why do luxury brands need to change?
To remain competitive in a changing market, luxury companies must adapt to the demands of Generation Z.
Luxury brands are making efforts to remain attractive and close to young people, notably by constantly innovating, for example with collaborations in the sports field, but this is not enough without careful consideration of internal policies.
One of the key changes concerns the possibility of reconciling professional and personal life, while offering opportunities for rapid development. This includes teleworking policies, flexible hours and a flatter organization. A young professional underlines “My desire to get involved… it will be the management of recognition, the fact that I am perceived as a person in my own right, that I am really given a real place. »
Furthermore, ethical commitment must be more than a simple speech and materialize in initiatives in terms of social, environmental responsibility and inclusiveness. Houses that do not meet these expectations lose attractiveness.
How to attract and retain Generation Z
Today, luxury brands must rethink their internal and external practices to remain competitive in the job market. At the end of our analysis, several recommendations emerge:
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Communicate and act transparently and authentically on social and environmental commitments, avoiding the impression of greenwashing.
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Offer personalized development paths for professional growth with mentoring and continuing training.
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Assign motivating missions to be carried out independently with opportunities for internal mobility to quickly improve your skills.
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Promote flexibility by integrating teleworking and flexible schedules, while ensuring moments of interaction to create strong interpersonal relationships.
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Directly involve young people in the choice and implementation of new projects so that they feel involved in decisions.
This article was co-written with Juliette Renaud, student at IÉSEG.
