Major corporations used to have their pick of the best minds as they left university. But there's now a talent shortage, and 53% of UK workers say that no amount of money could tempt them to a company with a poor employer brand. So how can businesses build their brand to attract the best applicants?

The slacker stereotype that clung to Gen Xers during their formative years has seemingly faded away, with surveys now suggesting that both their older and younger colleagues rank them as the hardest working employees and bosses. What makes this group so valuable in the workplace?

Gen X may be overlooked by marketers, but they've impacted everything from music to fashion to politics. Now that they’re in their 40s, they’ve replaced drug-fuelled raves with dinner and diapers – but that doesn't mean they're any less cool, as Tiffanie Darke, author ofNow We Are 40, tells Canvas8.

‘Monday blues’ may be attributed to a series of factors, but most boil down to anxieties about returning to work. As this phenomenon gains traction in social science, how are brands turning the concept on its head to turn energise and empower people on the first day of the working week?