"The current recruitment climate smacks of the dot-com war where companies recruited talent simply off the back of the company's image," he said. Not surprisingly, brand and image is everything.

More than 70 percent of Generation Y workers surveyed by Hays rated ethics, corporate responsibility and mission statements as important. It's not about money, but the kind of work they do.

Principal consultant at human resources firm Mercer, Phil Minns, agreed flexibility is critical.

"Workers from these generations think if they are not offered flexible hours then their employer is not utilizing technology efficiently," he said.

For Generation Y, Minns said remote access has been available for more than seven years and they expect technology to be made available to them.