Internet giant Google is the most desirable employer globally, according to survey by more than 267 000 millennials.
Universum’s Talent Survey asked business and engineering/IT students in the world’s 12 largest economies to choose their favourite employers.
In order to make the list of the World’s Most Attractive Employer, companies must rank in the top 90% of employers within at least six regional markets.
For the second year in a row, Google retained the top spot for business and engineering/IT talent, but Apple is biting at its heels.
On the Business rankings, Apple which moved up five spots from seventh to second place is challenging Google for the top position, followed by EY and Goldman Sachs. PwC fell three places to fifth place.
On the engineering/IT side, Google retains its top position followed by Microsoft, Apple, BMW and IBM, which took over GE’s spot at five.
The survey revealed that banks are struggling to compete with tech firms for business talent.
“As a result, certain banks have fallen in the rankings. However, due to the interest of engineering/IT talent in joining professional and financial services firms, some banks have made strong advances in the engineering/IT rankings,” stated the report.
There has also been mixed fortunes for consumer goods firms. Nike debuted on the ranking at 16, ahead of Adidas at 19.The data showed that there is also a stable attractiveness for the automotive industry, with the exception of Volkswagen for both business and engineering/IT talent.
“There have been significant declines in attractiveness for hardware-focused IT firms and electronics manufacturers and energy industry noticeably less attractive following the collapse in oil and gas prices, yet renewable energy firms have seen a spike in popularity among both sets of talent.”
According to the survey, business and engineering/IT students are actively in pursuit of obtaining a well-balanced lifestyle that encompasses work with personal time.
While the survey is based on the world’s 12 largest economies, the results still have major impact on South Africa and South African top talent and businesses need to be aware of these trends.
Jenalise Skuse, Universum country manager in South Africa, explained that the rankings are an important indicator of which companies are winning the global war for talent.
“With the increased mobility of talent, and with the increased importance of an international career for young talent in South Africa, it is more important than ever for local companies to understand the global talent landscape.”
She said in line with the global trend, young talent in South Africa is finding innovative tech firms increasingly attractive.
Skuse said all companies should make a point of listening to talent and what it wants.
“We live in a world where everyone has access to so much information and are making extremely informed choices about everything from which brands they buy to which companies they want to work for.
“As such it’s really important for organisations to know what drives their target market in terms of their career preferences and to communicate which of those preferences they as an employer can offer,” she said.
Skuse added that the the employer value proposition is the core of what an organisation offers as an employer and should be developed using a variety of data sources.
“The first step then for companies in South Africa in order to attract top talent would be to understand what drives top talent and develop a value proposition which reflects that.”
Universum South Africa research manager Winani Ndlovu said that although South African talent has similarities with talent elsewhere in the world, insights reveal that local employees also have unique expectations from employers.
“Similar to the global talent the South African business/commerce talent is looking for development evidenced in their selection of professional training and development and leaders who will support their development as part of their top three important attributes.
“Within engineering/technology, talent innovation and a creative and dynamic work environment is similarly part of the top three most important attributes in an employer.”
Ndlovu added that although both business and engineering/technology global talent have indicated that high future earnings is part of their top three most attractive attributes in an employer, the South African talent has indicated that professional training and development is more attractive in an employer over high future earnings.
He said their the majority of students fall under what Universum deems “careerists”.
“These are future-orientated individuals who ultimately want to be managers and leaders of groups of people in a business environment. They have no problem starting from the bottom and learning what each rung on the ladder is like.”
He said that many careerists consider this process imperative to being a well-rounded leader later on in their careers.
“Logically, it would be expected that professional training and development would be more important to these individuals as it would be part of their learning process.
“Earnings, on the other hand, is something that they might feel assured to get when they have learnt the important skills of the trade and are more rounded,” said Ndlovu.