ORGANISATIONAL ATTRACTIVENESS IN A TIME OF CRISIS - Employer knowledge within the pharmaceutical field during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to investigate how organisational attractiveness in the pharmaceutical industry has been influenced by increased media attention due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on a case of a multinational biotechnological and pharmaceutical Company X that was repeatedly in the spotlight of international media during the pandemic, the thesis explores how university students used different information sources for forming employer knowledge and if a connection could be found between employer knowledge and organisational attractiveness. Theory: The concept of employer knowledge consists of the three dimensions of employer familiarity, employer image and employer reputation, which display the beliefs that job seekers have about a potential employer based on different information sources. The thesis uses the framework by connecting it to different information sources and organisational attractiveness in the context of the pandemic. Method: Using a purposive sampling approach, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with university students about to enter the labour market that currently reside in Sweden. The study differentiates the target group based on their contextual backgrounds, such as occupational group (science or business) and Swedish or International origin. Thematic analysis was used to transform the collected data into empirical results. Result: The results indicate that the increased media exposure during the Covid-19 pandemic influenced all dimensions of employer knowledge, especially employer familiarity. Becoming a household name positively influenced the student’s perception of organisational attractiveness. The different contextual backgrounds of the students become visible in their level of employer knowledge, their usage of information sources, their perception of the pharmaceutical industry and their reflection of media content.