What senior candidates really look for: not salary, but direction

In the conversations I have every day with senior professionals from Romania and the region – CROs, COOs, CTOs, CHROs, leaders responsible for innovation or digital projects, people with solid careers and real results – the same message appears:

“I am no longer looking just for a role. I am looking for direction.”

Not salary, not title, not benefits, but a place where they can see meaning, growth, a plan, a strategy.

Most senior candidates do not leave because of compensation. They leave when they can no longer answer the question: “Where is the organisation heading and what is my role in this story?”

This paradigm shift is confirmed not only by our Executive Search conversations, but also by the numbers.

The senior market in 2025: between opportunity and professional exhaustion

According to LinkedIn Global Talent Trends 2025, 71% of senior professionals in Europe state that, for them, clarity of the organisation’s direction is the main criterion in deciding whether to accept an offer.

And Antal Europe Hiring Report 2025 (send me a message at [email protected] for the full report based on information from over 10,000 respondents in more than 35 countries) shows that:

• 62% of senior professionals feel they are no longer aligned with the strategy of their current company.
• 56% say their departure is driven by a lack of predictability.
• Only 18% mention salary as the main reason for changing jobs.

In Romania, especially in banking and financial services, the effects of recent years – consolidations, strategy shifts, restructurings – have amplified this need for direction.

Why salary is no longer enough for senior candidates

The best professionals do not leave for a package that is 10% higher. The best leave when they feel that:

• they can no longer influence the direction of the business,
• they are not consulted on strategic decisions,
• their role becomes more operational than transformative,
• or when successive leadership changes make them feel they no longer have stability, that they work on ground that is constantly shifting.

According to Glassdoor Hiring Insights 2025, seniors prioritise:

• Clear strategic direction – 78%
• Empathic and consistent leadership – 72%
• Autonomy and decision-making power – 69%
• Status and visibility of the role – 64%
• Real impact on the organisation – 61%

Salary only appears in sixth place.

What do senior professionals in Romania want?

In the discussions I have with leaders from banking, fintech, insurance, consulting and the wider financial services industry, three major themes appear:

a) Visibility and a real strategic role

Many seniors feel they are becoming executors of a strategy that changes too often. They want a place where they are consulted, not just informed.

b) Predictability and stability of the vision

They no longer want to “chase moving targets”. They want to understand the scenarios for the next 1–3 years, not just what happens in the next quarter.

c) Freedom to build

Seniors do not look for “jobs”, they look for mandates. Real responsibility. Space to put their mark.

The strongest message from 2025: senior candidates choose organisations that know how to communicate direction

In 2025, in Executive Search, the companies that win are not the ones offering the highest salary, the most modern office, the most advanced technology. The winners are the companies that can clearly answer three questions:

• Where do we want to be in 2–3 years?
• What concrete role will this leader have in our transformation?
• What does success look like in the first 12 months?

And this is visible in the numbers:

• companies that communicate their strategy transparently have a 19% higher offer acceptance rate (Glassdoor 2025),
• time to fill senior roles is reduced by 28% (LinkedIn Talent Trends),
• retention in the first 18 months increases by 23% (Antal Hiring Report 2025).

Why direction is the new “benefit” on the senior market

For senior candidates, direction means: clarity, meaning, a place where they can feel useful again, certainty that their experience matters, a sense of ownership over a result, the possibility to build something that represents them.

Direction is the new currency in an increasingly competitive market.

Conclusion

In 2025, senior candidates are no longer asking “where am I going?”, but “what am I committing to?”. They are no longer looking just for a job, but for a project they can believe in. They are no longer looking only for financial stability, but for strategic stability.

And companies that understand this have an undeniable advantage in attracting and retaining the leaders who can make a difference.

Antal International remains an active partner in this transformation, connecting local experience with a global perspective from its 130+ offices in 35+ countries.

If you want to discuss your strategy for attracting and retaining senior leaders, you can contact me here: ???? [email protected] ???? +40 721 264 477