As part of our annual U.S. consumer benchmark study, we asked respondents about their preferences for different job characteristics. To help people with the complex task of ranking how important they consider different workplace characteristics, we used conjoint analysis. This approach presents respondents with several pairs of hypothetical job packages that differ slightly in their characteristics and then asks them to select the job package they prefer.

We found that job candidates value the social aspects of work – especially the immediate manager and the immediate team – most highly. And while some of the differences between characteristics may appear small, they actually represent substantial differences in candidate preferences. For example, although the importance rating of the immediate manager is only six percentage points higher than workplace flexibility, 76% of people would prefer a job with the best manager and the worst workplace flexibility compared to the opposite.

For more information on job candidates’ workplace preferences, check out the original post, What Do Job Candidates Really Want? Good Managers!

To use this Data Snippet, download and include it in presentations. The graphic is free to use but must retain the copyright notice.