The age of the person you're trying to hire completely changes what you should be saying to them. Same job ad for a 25-year-old and a 55-year-old? You're talking to neither.

Most businesses run one generic recruitment campaign and wonder why it doesn't pull in the right people. The fix is recognising that different generations want fundamentally different things from work, and adjusting your message to suit. Let me break it down.

The under 39s

This group covers Gen Z (under 28) and the younger half of Millennials. They're the most active job seekers in Australia right now, and the most likely to feel underpaid and fed up.

What they want, in priority order: competitive salary, flexible hours, more leave, growth opportunities, and a workplace that aligns with their values.

This generation has spent their working life inside a labour market that's been chronically uncertain. They watched their older siblings struggle. They've changed jobs more often than any group before them. They're optimistic but skeptical. They know their worth and they're not afraid to leave for a better offer.

What they care less about than employers think: traditional perks. Company cars. Long-service rewards. Title progression up a rigid hierarchy. These were valuable to older generations because they signalled status. Under 39s see them as boring at best, restrictive at worst.

How to talk to them

Punchy content about flexibility, growth, and career progression. Specific numbers. Pay ranges in the ad. Real footage of the workplace, not corporate stock imagery. The faster the pace of your content, the better it lands. Cuts every two to three seconds.

Instagram and TikTok are where they live. Facebook is where their parents are. LinkedIn is where the older end of this group hangs out for serious career conversations, but most of their day-to-day attention is on visual platforms.

If you're trying to hire under-39s through Facebook ads alone, you're missing most of them.

The 40 to 49s

This is the established professional zone. Mid-career, often with mortgages, kids, and significant career responsibility. Many of them on the Coast are lifestyle migrants who moved here from Brisbane or Sydney for the family lifestyle.

What they want, in priority order: flexible working (this peaks in this age group, more than any other), financial security, health and wellbeing, work that respects their experience, and a workplace that doesn't waste their time.

They're done with grind culture. They've seen burnout. They've often had a parent or partner go through a health scare. They want a job that supports the life they've built, not one that consumes it.

What they care less about than younger generations: hot new perks. They're not interested in pool tables. They want predictable, reliable, supportive working conditions.

How to talk to them

Day-in-the-life videos that show what a balanced workday actually looks like. The team handover at 9am. The flexible lunch hour. The 4pm finish on a Friday. The supportive manager who doesn't email after hours.

Facebook works better for this group than Instagram. LinkedIn is essential, especially for professional and white-collar roles. Both platforms still pull strong engagement from the 40 to 49 cohort.

Message tone should be calmer than what works on younger audiences. They've seen the hype. They want substance.

The 50+

This group is often misunderstood by businesses. The assumption is they're winding down, not interested in change, hard to attract. The data tells a different story.

This is actually the most-satisfied-with-pay group in Australia. They've often been in roles long enough to have negotiated up. They're not chasing pay rises. They're chasing something else.

What they want, in priority order: pride in their work, respect for their experience, traditional benefits (this is where the company car or vehicle allowance shines), workplace stability, and the ability to mentor and pass on knowledge.

What they care less about: family-friendly benefits (kids are grown), trendy office perks, social media presence, fast-paced startup energy.

This group is often actively undervalued by employers who assume they're set in their ways. The reverse is often true. They're some of the most loyal, hardworking, low-drama hires you can make. They just need to feel respected.

How to talk to them

Straightforward, interview-style content. Don't try to be trendy. Just be real. Show what the work actually involves and emphasise the parts that benefit from experience. Mention traditional benefits clearly. Company vehicle. Phone allowance. Loyalty bonuses. Pension contributions.

Facebook is where they spend most of their social media time. LinkedIn is useful for white-collar roles. Email campaigns can also work for this group when other channels don't.

The biggest mistake businesses make with over-50s is hiding their workplace's traditional structure. If you've got hierarchy, defined roles, and clear standards, this group LIKES that. Don't try to look like a startup. Be what you actually are.

Why one ad doesn't work for all three

Look at the priority lists side by side.

Under 39s: salary, flexibility, growth.

40 to 49s: flexibility, security, family time.

50+: pride, respect, traditional perks.

A generic ad has to pick one priority list to lead with. Whichever you pick, you're miscommunicating to two out of three audiences.

The fix isn't to make a longer ad that tries to address all three. It's to run different ads, with different creative, targeted at different audiences.

This is one of the biggest advantages of social ad platforms over job boards. You can run multiple campaigns simultaneously, each speaking to a different generation, each with its own messaging and visuals. SEEK can't do that. SEEK shows the same ad to everyone.

What this looks like in practice

Let's say you're hiring a mechanic at a Coast workshop. Here's what three age-targeted campaigns might look like.

Campaign A: Under 39s. Fast cuts. Young apprentice or junior tech on camera. Mention the pay range up front. Talk about growth into diagnostic work or management. Show the workplace energy. Run on Instagram and TikTok.

Campaign B: 40 to 49s. Day-in-the-life of a senior tech. Family-friendly hours. The fact that everyone's home by 4:30pm. Stable, well-run shop. The kind of place where you can build a long career without burnout. Run on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Campaign C: 50+. Interview with a long-tenured mechanic on what he likes about the shop. Respect for experience. Quality work. Traditional benefits like company vehicle. The chance to mentor younger team members. Run on Facebook.

Three campaigns. Same job. Three completely different conversations. Each one lands better with its audience than a single generic ad ever could.

What about the cost

Running three campaigns sounds expensive. It's actually not, if you're already running ads at all.

Most businesses spend $30 to $50 a day on a single Facebook ad. Splitting that across three audience-targeted campaigns means $10 to $15 a day per audience. That's enough to test which generation responds best for your specific role, then increase budget on the winning campaign.

The content itself is the bigger investment. You'll need slightly different videos for each audience. But the underlying footage from one shoot day can usually be re-cut into multiple versions for different generations.

One shoot. Multiple campaigns. Better results.

The takeaway

The person you're trying to hire is not generic. They've got an age, a life stage, and a set of priorities that come with both. Pretending otherwise costs you applications from every group.

Under 39s want pay, flexibility, and growth. 40 to 49s want flexibility, security, and family time. 50+ want pride, respect, and traditional perks.

Same ad for all three? You're talking to none of them. Different ads for each? You'll start hearing from the people you actually want.

Want help building age-targeted recruitment campaigns for your business? Book a 15-minute call and we'll walk through what would work for the role.