Loblaw looks to millennials in latest recruitment effort

Loblaw Companies has launched a new video to entice millennials to join its workforce.

The four-minute video, titled “The Loblaw Experience,” touts Loblaw’s position as Canada’s food and pharmacy leader, and the nation’s largest retailer. It features employees who talk about how they got their start at Loblaw, their professional progression, and what they love about the company. Most of the employees featured work at head office, but there is one store manager in the video.

“We wanted to showcase the Loblaw brand and culture in a way that was really dynamic and let colleagues to speak for themselves,” said Marc Viola, senior director, talent acquisition at Loblaw. “We also wanted to highlight the key benefits about working at Loblaw and for them to share what makes it a great place to work.”





The video, which is posted on YouTube and is being shared across the company’s social media channels, is targeted at millennials and new graduates. Viola said Loblaw has been doing social media recruitment for a number of years, particularly with its Facebook page, Loblaw Careers.  Loblaw also uses Twitter and LinkedIn to recruit talent.

“It’s a way for us to connect with an audience that looks for jobs and looks for answers to questions about things related to interviewing and recruiting,” said Viola. “Our candidates are telling us that’s where they’re searching and that’s where we want to meet up with them.”

Loblaw’s social channels are leveraged primarily for positions at corporate offices, but the tools are available for its in-store recruiters and distribution centre recruiters across the country.

Viola said it’s important to maintain consistency across all the different social media channels in terms of the messaging. “But at the same time, we understand that the channels themselves may be for different audiences.”

For example, LinkedIn is more for “professional experience” hires, while Twitter and Facebook are used to post job openings from all levels across the country and tend to be more engaging social channels.

“Candidates might have questions about what we’re looking for, or are we going to be having a career fair, or for us to even broadcast messages about when we’re going to be on campus as well,” he said.

“Primarily Facebook and Twitter are great forums for that. On LinkedIn, we can certainly share great career stories as well and engage with an audience there too. But sharing consistent messaging across about the company and what makes Loblaw a great place to work.”