Job candidates are digging into your balance sheets – here’s how to talk money

As economic and political uncertainty persists, job seekers are digging into potential employers’ stability.

More than two-thirds (67%) of job seekers look into a company’s financial health before accepting a position, with that figure rising to 76% in accounting/finance and 75% in technology, according to a global survey.

Does this mean that financial transparency is not just a nice‐to‐have but a recruiting imperative?

Anil Verma, professor emeritus of organizational behaviour and human resource management at the University of Toronto, points out that these candidates aren’t being nosey, they’re revealing themselves as potential key hires.

“I think this is a healthy trend, and one that should be encouraged by the employer,” he says, stressing that the hiring process is a perfect opportunity for employers to showcase their story and their data to potential talent.

Market confidence and risk aversion

The Criteria survey also reports that 45% of candidates name excessive competition as their top job‐search challenge, with tech and white‐collar workers most likely to raise this concern. As more qualified applicants vie for fewer openings, candidate confidence is under strain.

According to Josh Millet, CEO and founder of Criteria, this trend suggests candidates are not only evaluating roles but weighing macroeconomic factors – tariff wars, AI impacts, layoffs – before committing.

“The supply and demand imbalance is kind of shifting in terms of the labour supply in US and Canada,” he says. “The average job posting now has more applicants than it had six months ago. So that's a sign of increased competitiveness.”

Source: Criteria

Millet also points to a shift toward perceived stability: 57% of job seekers say they’d rather work for a bigger company, compared to 43% who prefer smaller firms. This pattern reflects risk management more than brand loyalty, he says

“They're not inclined to look beyond their company, because they're not confident about the market,” Millet says.

 “In terms of what job seekers are prioritizing in their next role, [these are] things that we didn't hear about a year or two ago, like really being concerned about the financial health of the company that they're applying for, or a pretty pronounced trend in people swinging to wanting to work for more for larger companies, as opposed to smaller ones.”

Leveraging web presence for job candidates

With 67% of candidates researching the financial health of potential employers, a static “About Us” page no longer suffices; both Verma and Millet stress the importance of fulsome company information being readily available and front and centre on candidate-targeted webpages.

“Identify areas where the company is growing and where you are looking for talent,” says Verma.

“You are the main source of that kind of information, and it generates confidence in the applicant if they can get a better picture of where you are financially, where you're growing, where you're not.”

Candidates aren’t relying solely on sites like Glassdoor to assess stability. In fact, 26% of job seekers now prefer mobile applications, and they expect mobile-friendly, data-rich career pages over potentially manipulated review aggregators.

As Millet points out, onboarding new talent is in itself a sign of progress which should be leveraged to improve an employer’s “employment brand.”

“If you're hiring, that's a sign of some strength, some growth,” he says.

“I think you lean into the other aspects of the culture, or whatever it is that does make your employment brand appealing or promising … other things that are very high on the job seeker priorities list are the opportunity for growth and development. So, if you have that to offer, you can lean into that work-life balance.”

Framing tough truths for potential hires

Even blue-chip firms face uncertainty in certain divisions, and Verma points to savvy and accurate framing as the strategy for communicating this to potential hires; by leaning into growth areas and communicating openly about the challenges, candidates can get the whole picture, ultimately leading to better hires.

“Presumably the employer is trying to hire in areas where the company has prospects, so the employer should share that information with the candidate, even as they acknowledge that there might be other parts of the business that might be negatively affected,” he advises.

“I don't think it turns talent away, it just places their position, their job opening, within the larger context of the employer.”

By acknowledging market volatility – whether due to tariff wars, shifting energy prices, or restructuring – HR teams can craft narratives that highlight opportunity over risk: “I think honesty is the best policy,” Verma says.

“It can be a good story instead of being a negative story for the company. But they need to explain it. They need to share information.”

Training for recruiter messaging about financial wellness

Consistent messaging across touchpoints is vital when candidates compare notes online and share experiences, Verma says; he recommends simple but structured recruiter support through tactics such as a “crib sheet” of key figures and talking points to ensure every recruiter delivers the same story.

Whether in a multinational firm or a two-person startup, formal training sessions – or even informal huddles – can align interviewers on what financial data to share, how to frame uncertainties, and which growth stories to highlight, he explains.

“It's important for the employer to present a consistent picture,” Verma says. “This picture should not vary by day of the week or by the person who is recruiting.”

This prevents mixed messages that could erode trust and ensures that every candidate encounter reinforces an image of openness and competence.

Interactive job previews to identify high performers

Employers shouldn’t view curious candidates as nosey, Millet stresses – they should see them as potential assets.

With 26% of applicants preferring mobile platforms and interactive content, integrating such content into application processes offers dual benefits: educating candidates on division-specific contexts and signalling genuine interest to employers.

“People who spend a lot of time researching a role in a company are very high-intent job seekers,” he explains.  

“Just by the fact that people have gone through that process, it shows an employer that they're really interested, and they've done a lot of research on it, so they're more likely to be a good fit.”