Job security beats salary: What the Randstad 2026 study means for employer branding
For years, the equation in employer branding was simple: to win talent, you have to match pay and deliver on flexibility. The Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026 challenges that assumption. For 58% of surveyed employees in Germany, job security is the most important criterion of an attractive employer. Salary and benefits rank 50% and drop to fourth place. A year earlier, pay was still first.
That makes a strong hook for any employer branding presentation. It is also an invitation to look more closely, because behind the headline there is a more nuanced story, and it has direct consequences for the messages we will work with in 2027.
The results at a glance
The five most important criteria of an attractive employer in Germany, according to Randstad:
Job security: 58%
Pleasant working atmosphere: 54%
Work-life balance: 52%
Salary and benefits: 50%
Equal opportunities: 45%
The data comes from online interviews conducted in early 2026 with more than 160,000 employees and job seekers in 34 countries, including 4,331 people in Germany.
Two caveats up front
First: the top spot changes, the foundation stays.
In the 2025 Randstad analysis, an attractive salary and job security had already been the shared foundation of an ideal employer for three years. Among Gen Z, security was already ahead of pay. So 2026 shifts the priority order, not the entire worldview.
Second: the source is not neutral.
Randstad is a staffing company, and some of the articles that put the results into context are sponsored content from Randstad itself. Randstad also points out that the year-on-year comparison of the employer ranking has limited validity because the methodology was adjusted. That is no reason to dismiss the numbers. It is a reason to read them as a solid impulse rather than a law of nature.
Security is the ticket in, not the finish line
Randstad itself warns against the obvious misreading that salary is now secondary. The survey shows a second layer: when employees are asked to weigh individual criteria against each other, salary and work-life balance regain weight. Job security is the basis, but in a concrete decision, compensation and everyday practicality also count.
This fits with how high the willingness to change jobs remains despite the need for security: 24% of respondents plan to switch employers within the next six months, and 17% have already done so in the past six months. As triggers, they mainly name unmet core expectations: inadequate pay, work-life balance challenges, and a lack of career opportunities.
My reading: security decides whether an employer makes the shortlist at all. Pay, compatibility with life outside work, and prospects determine whether people stay. Anyone who only polishes the security promise gains attention, but not yet loyalty.
The real alarm: the attractiveness gap
The most revealing finding to me is a comparison within the study itself. Around 70% of employees rate job security at their current employer positively. For work-life balance, however, only 57% say their employer actually enables the compatibility they want in everyday life. That is a gap of roughly 13 percentage points.
For employer branding, this means: on security, many employees are already satisfied. The greater pressure to act lies where wishes and lived reality diverge. Anyone who promises work-life balance on the career site while expecting constant availability in daily work risks exactly what Randstad describes: quiet or actual resignation.
In 2026, security does not mean standing still
It is also interesting who leads the ranking: Siemens, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) and BMW. For all three, the use of state-of-the-art technology is the most important attractiveness factor. Randstad concludes that innovative strength has become part of the security promise: whoever will still be relevant in the market tomorrow is seen as safe. Employees therefore do not expect the status quo to be frozen, but orientation in times of change.
Personalwirtschaft notes that carmakers in particular can currently offer little job security in the classic sense and still rank among the top. Gruner + Jahr, which has gone through an acquisition and job cuts in recent years, also makes the top ten, although Randstad notes that its attractiveness has not risen significantly compared with the previous year.
In employees' minds, security is more than protection against dismissal. It is also a picture of the future.
What this means for EVP communication in 2027
Five consequences that I consider obvious for employer branding and TA teams:
Prove security, don't just claim it.
A "secure job" without evidence is a platitude. The promise becomes credible through transparent development paths, upskilling offers, insight into company strategy, and leaders who talk openly about change.
Don't give guarantees nobody can give.
Anyone in the middle of a transformation or restructuring should offer orientation instead of a guarantee: where is the company heading, and what role does each individual play? A security promise that is broken later costs more trust than an honest admission that not everything can be planned.
Don't play salary against security.
Compensation remains a key reason to leave. Market-rate pay and transparency about salary ranges remain mandatory, not least because the EU Pay Transparency Directive is increasing the pressure to act anyway.
Measure the gap and close it.
Check employer branding statements against employee experience data before every campaign, especially on work-life balance. Where the gap between promise and everyday reality is large, a new campaign visual will not help.
Differentiate target groups.
Randstad already stressed in 2025 that employer branding does not work with a watering-can approach. Among Gen Z, security was already ahead of pay. The message should therefore not be the same for everyone.
Three questions for 2027 planning
Conclusion
In 2026, job security is the criterion employees put first. That makes it the basis of employer attractiveness, but not a unique selling point.
What matters is whether the promise becomes tangible in daily work: through reliable conditions, plannable development, fair pay, and leadership that provides orientation.
Whoever delivers that need not fear a salary comparison. Whoever only communicates it will sooner or later see the gap in application and resignation behavior.
Sources
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