I thought the whole point of the term "unicorn" was to indicate that you are referring to a class of employees/companies who just plain do not exist, but are nonetheless the objects of immense amounts of fantasizing.
It was, but the problem is that the term has been picked up by clueless masses who are unable to realize that searching for a unicorn is by definition a doomed process, much like how "Born in the U.S.A." is now obliviously played at rallies by political candidates to clueless to realize it's a song about how ordinary people get screwed over by politicians.
It's a buzzword shift. You can probably just ignore anyone who says it.
I'm not sure exactly what it's replacing, because those words are equally meaningless. As Humpty Dumpty would put it, it means exactly what the speaker wants it to mean, no more, no less. Just add it to the list:
Excessive focus on supernatural employees reveals that the company, for lack of a better term, fervently believes in magic. By hiring the chosen one, as revealed by the hidden UV-fluorescent birthmark and 10 trials of worthiness, the company will fulfill the founders' prophecy, defeat the competitors, and pay out on all the options. And everyone lives happily ever after.
The article this industry needs is one on how to build an above-median team from near-median employees without wasting any time on bullshit HR fantasies.
> Excessive focus on supernatural employees reveals that the company, for lack of a better term, fervently believes in magic. By hiring the chosen one, as revealed by the hidden UV-fluorescent birthmark and 10 trials of worthiness, the company will fulfill the founders' prophecy, defeat the competitors, and pay out on all the options. And everyone lives happily ever after.
I vote that every time we meet anyone who talks as if they think this way, we take out our smartphones and call up the My Little Pony song on YouTube until they learn to stop that shit.