Recruiting for SDGs-Oriented Profiles: Unpacking Drivers of Employer Attractiveness in Hybrid Organizations

This study investigates the key drivers of employer attractiveness among professional profiles considered critical for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on hybrid organizations that combine public value creation with economic sustainability. Specifically, the research examines Italian public utilities operating in the water, waste, and energy sectors, which play a crucial role in advancing sustainability transitions and delivering essential public services. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, the study explores how extrinsic rewards and the fulfillment of three fundamental psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—influence prospective employees' job preferences. It adopts a sequential mixed-methods research design, combining 16 semi-structured interviews with Human Resource and Employer Branding managers from Italian utilities with two discrete-choice experiments involving 469 respondents. The experiments target two groups of young professionals identified as particularly relevant to SDG implementation: 204 STEM students and graduates and 265 vocational-technical students and professionals. The findings reveal that competitive salaries and opportunities for competence development, particularly through exposure to cutting-edge technologies, are significant determinants of employer attractiveness across both groups. However, differences emerge regarding autonomy-related attributes. While remote working opportunities do not significantly influence STEM respondents' employment choices, workplace proximity represents the strongest driver of attractiveness among vocational-technical profiles, whose professional activities generally require physical presence. Contrary to initial expectations, the opportunity to contribute to environmental sustainability and local communities does not significantly differentiate job opportunities for either group. Rather than suggesting that social and environmental impact is irrelevant to prospective employees, this finding indicates that sustainability-related values may already be embedded in the perceived identity of public utilities, functioning as baseline expectations rather than distinctive attributes influencing employment decisions. The study contributes to the literature on human resource management, employer branding, and hybrid organizations by highlighting the importance of integrating intrinsic and extrinsic motivational drivers in recruitment strategies. From a managerial perspective, the findings suggest that organizations pursuing sustainability objectives should move beyond communicating their social and environmental missions alone and develop comprehensive employer value propositions combining meaningful societal impact, technological innovation, professional development, and competitive employment conditions. Overall, the research emphasizes that attracting the technical and scientific competencies required to advance the SDGs depends not only on organizational purpose but also on the capacity of hybrid organizations to offer rewarding professional opportunities. These insights provide practical implications for HR managers and policymakers seeking to strengthen recruitment strategies and support sustainability transitions through effective human capital management.