Why AWX recruits Gen Z, millennials and Gen X differently

The way people move through their careers has changed and it's changed fast. A resume that once showed three roles over 15 years now might show 15 roles over 10. That's not necessarily a red flag anymore, it's a shift in the market and businesses who are still reading resumes the old way might be missing out on solid candidates. 

Jess Boyce, AWX Central Queensland Area Manager, has watched the shift firsthand across mining and resources and it's changed the way her team approaches every placement. 

"The way people approach tenure has changed completely. We used to look for stability as a sign someone was reliable. Now we ask different questions to understand why someone's moved, whether it was for opportunity, money or something else," Jess said. 

It's not just tenure either. Candidates loyalty has shifted and some withdraw part way through mobilisation, sometimes days before they're due on site, which is why Jess and her team ask the question directly before a candidate is submitted. 

"When chatting to candidates, we’ll say, ‘Before we submit, have you applied for any other roles? If you have, would this role be your preference? Be honest, don't just tell me what I want to hear’" Jess said. 

“This helps us to get a clear picture on the candidates commitment to the role. If we see any sign of hesitation, we’ll reconsider putting them forward to our clients,” she said. 

This comes at a cost. Mobilising someone to site takes time and coordination, so when a candidate pulls out mid way through or after starting, the cost is felt by the client as much as it does us. In the year to February 2025 close to 1.1 million Australians changed jobs and Queensland recorded one of the highest job mobility rates in the country. 

A big part of what we’re seeing is a shift across generations and their approach to work and it's changing how AWX approaches every candidate. Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers all move through the process differently, so treating every candidate the same way means missing the signals that predict whether someone sticks. 



What each generation brings to the table 

Between the 2,000+ candidates AWX places in work every week and the years Jess and her team have spent recruiting across mining and resources across the Bowen Basin, clear patterns show up in what different generations need to feel confident about a role. 

Gen Z 

By 2030, Gen Z will make up one third of the country's workforce and they're already showing up to recruitment conversations differently to the generations before them. They come in with more research done than any generation before them, having usually looked into the company, the role and often the site itself before they've spoken to anyone, which means they arrive asking sharper questions. They're prioritising value: pay transparency, flexibility and work life balance, mental health and wellbeing support. 

"Gen Z candidates do a lot more research before they commit to a role. They're asking more detailed questions than we'd typically get from other generations. For example, does the camp have Vegan or Vegetarian food options? Is there a gym available on site? What are the progression opportunities on site with this company? What’s the culture with this business like? What’s phone service like on site? Is there WIFI in the camp? Where is the closest McDonalds? Where as, five years ago, candidates wanted to know what the pay rate was and if camp was provided," Jess said. 

For example, does the camp have Vegan or Vegetarian food options? Is there a gym available on site? What are the progression opportunities on site with this company? What’s the culture with this business like? What’s phone service like on site? Is there WIFI in the camp? Where as, five years ago, candidates wanted to know what the pay rate was and if camp was provided. 

That means: 

• Wanting the full picture upfront, roster, travel, camp, facilities, culture, growth, before committing 
• Expecting direct and clear answers rather than a sales pitch 
• Valuing transparency early over being sold on a role that turns out to be different once they start 

Millennials 

Millennials usually come to a recruiter with a few years of experience across different employers and rosters already behind them, so they tend to know what they're after and can say so clearly. That makes the conversation faster, but it also means they're weighing up progression and stability, not just taking the first offer that comes along. 

21% of Australian millennials are chasing fast paced, rapid promotion style progression, with most instead favouring steady growth that builds long term stability. 

"Millennials tend to be the most straightforward generation to place, and I say that as one myself. We're the glue that holds everyone together, brought up a bit differently to the generations on either side of us, which is probably why our expectations track closest to how recruitment has traditionally worked." Jess said. 

That means: 

• Moving through the standard process at a typical pace 
• Communicating clearly, particularly about growth opportunities and expecting the same in return 
• Staying the full length of a placement once they've committed to it 
  

Gen X and Baby Boomers 

More experienced candidates bring decades of site knowledge, built up from years on the tools that younger candidates simply haven't had time to accumulate yet. They also bring expectations shaped by an employment relationship that used to come with a higher level of ongoing support. 

"Gen X and Baby Boomers who've been in the industry for decades often expect a certain level of support and communication that reflects how the industry used to operate. A lot of them have been doing this for twenty plus years and know the industry inside out, so they expect us to already know what they need without having to spell it out. That means we come to those conversations with the site history and project detail already sorted, so we're not asking them questions they think we should already know the answer to." Jess said. 

That means: 

• Bringing deep, hands on site experience that speaks for itself 
• Expecting regular contact and support throughout the process, not just at the start 
• Settling in fast once that support is there from day one 

Who's easier to place? 

No generation is any harder or easier to work with than another, they just need different things from the process to get to the same result, a candidate who's ready to start. 

"It comes down to learning how to change as a manager, an account manager or a recruiter. You have to learn to change your style to accommodate whoever you're talking to," Jess said. 

That's why AWX doesn't run a single standard process and call it done. Our team adjusts what gets covered and when depending on who they're talking to, more detail upfront for a Gen Z candidate, a clear pathway conversation for a millennial, consistent communication for a Gen X or baby boomer candidate. It's built into how we brief every candidate before they're put forward to you. 

Before your candidate starts  

The commitment conversation with every candidate happens more than once and it's built into our process rather than left to chance. 

"Once we get feedback that a candidate's been approved to proceed, we have that same conversation again by asking, ‘Are you still committed? Has anything changed on your end?’" Jess said. 

“This provides us with some reassurance they’re not going to pull out of the process part way through induction and mobilisation,” she said. 

Before and during candidates being shared with you for consideration our team: 

• Chat about the role in detail before submitting a candidate, including whether they've applied elsewhere and which role is their preference 
• Revisit that conversation once a candidate is confirmed to move forward, because things can change fast between an offer and a start date 
• Check in again post approval, to catch anything that's shifted before mobilisation 

"It's not about distrust, it's about making sure nothing's changed on their end that we need to know about so everyone’s aligned and on the same page with no surprises," Jess said. 

How AWX finds the right fit, not just the fastest one 

The great candidate conversation is not happening in one office. It's happening every day, in every state, backed by a local and centralised national recruitment team working alongside local branches who know their patch, their clients and their sites. 

Across the country we're already working with a candidate pool of over 400,000 people, so when Jess and her team place someone in Central Queensland, they're drawing on knowledge built at a national scale and applied with local experience. 

"When we've taken the time to get to know and understand what our candidates need based on where they're at in their career, they arrive ready and settled. We've already built that relationship, so if something comes up once they're on site, they come to us first rather than the issue landing on you," Jess said. 

Understanding a candidate's generation is one part of a bigger picture. Combine that with a pool of 400,000 people and teams who know their local patch and you get a placement built to last past the first few weeks rather than one that just fills a gap on paper. It's the reason it's worth talking to us before your next role goes live.