This morning, a quick Google search for the term “labor shortage” brought up nearly 200,000 results. The reality is clear: there aren’t enough IT specialists, engineers, financial analysts, or catering staff — and the same goes for cleaners, cashiers, construction workers, and even taxi drivers. Whether you’re running a small business, an SME, or a global corporation, the labor shortage will impact you sooner or later.

But what does this have to do with communication?

Quite a lot, actually. Despite the fierce competition for talent, truly compelling and engaging job advertisements remain rare. The kind that genuinely inspire people to apply are still few and far between. Most job ads, career pages, and corporate brochures continue to sound the same — bland, predictable, and filled with tired corporate jargon. It’s almost as if nothing has changed since the days we used to fax job listings to Expressz twenty years ago.

The fact is that there are still very few truly exciting, appealing job advertisements that would attract the workforce whose applications are so eagerly awaited. Most company advertisements, websites, and brochures are still boring, dull, and written in corporate clichés. It’s exactly the same as it was twenty years ago, when we used to send job advertisements to the Expressz editorial office by fax.

Faxes may be long gone in most professions — and so should overly formal communication. The best companies already recognize that communication itself has become a competitive arena in today’s labor market. In fact, it may soon be the most decisive factor in attracting talent.
The most progressive and appealing brands have learned to break free from stiff, corporate language. They’ve switched off the “bullshit generator” on their websites and in their job ads. In the age of social media, no one wants to read empty jargon. These companies speak the language of the internet — the language of Twitter, or TikTok and the language of GenZ: clear, concise, and engaging.

This matters enormously in recruitment. Most potential employees form their first impressions of a company through what they see online — on websites, in job listings, press coverage, or even recruitment flyers. Yet, despite this, too many corporate materials remain overly formal, lengthy, and dull.

The “shark in space” strategy

What takes two hundred words to explain can often be said just as effectively in one hundred — or even fewer. Few realize that Hollywood sells billion-dollar movies on the strength of a single, powerful sentence.

Take the 1970s, for example: a film crew pitched a story about a terrifying alien that devours humans. Their entire concept boiled down to just three words — “Jaws in space.” The producers loved it, and that’s how the legendary Alien franchise was born.
So here’s the question: has your company found its own “one-sentence” story yet?

As a leader, can you clearly express who you are, what you do, and why someone should choose you — all in one compelling sentence?

President Kennedy demonstrated this brilliantly in 1961. He didn’t just pitch a program — he presented a multi-billion-dollar space initiative to Congress and the American public. And he did it with a single, simple sentence:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.“

If one of humanity’s most ambitious endeavors could be captured so concisely, there’s no reason most companies couldn’t be presented in the same clear, compelling way. Clarity can make any organization exciting and inspiring. Of course, achieving this requires skill — communication is a profession in its own right.

And HR is a profession too. That’s why, if your goal is to strengthen your company’s ability to stand out, it’s not enough to invest only in HR. Your communications team matters just as much. The real formula for success is when HR and communications work together seamlessly, day in and day out.

Richárd Drágus, Deputy Managing Director