The World’s Most Attractive Employers According To Business Students

2020 has been the year of a lot of things. But according to Universum’s annual survey of more than 108,000 business students from across the globe, 2020 is also the year of tech. Published at the beginning of the month, Universum’s Word’s Most Attractive Employers survey reveals an increasing popularity in some of the world’s most prolific technology companies.

While there was quite a bit of shuffling around this year compared to last year, the top company remained the same. Google is once again the most attractive employer for business students across the globe. What’s behind Google’s dominance in popularity among business students? The tech giant offers exactly what many young business students are looking for. It offers one of the most innovative environments in which to work. It pushed employees to be as innovative as possible. And as a company that has such a huge global reach, it also gives employees the ability to work towards a good greater than themselves. And then there’s, of course, all of the perks. Generous parental leave and onsite child care centers. A Global Educational Leave program. Onsite healthcare. And of course all of the snacks and food.

TECH COMPANIES SURGE IN POPULARITY WHILE TWO OF THE BIG FOUR SLIDE

Besides Google, three other major tech companies made big moves in this year’s survey. Apple surged from fifth place last year to second this year. Meanwhile, Microsoft lept five spots from eighth to third. And Amazon catapulted from 11th last year to fourth this year. It’s the first time in the history of the ranking four technology companies swept the top-four spots for business students.

Following the four tech companies and rounding out the top five was Deloitte, which slipped one spot from fourth last year to fifth this year. Goldman Sachs followed Deloitte, climbing one spot from seventh in 2019 to sixth this year. Ernst & Young (EY) and PwC followed in seventh and eighth, respectively. Both dropped five spots from their placements last year of second and third. Rounding out the top-10 are J.P. Morgan and L’Oreal Group.

FINANCIAL SERVICES DIPS IN POPULARITY

While tech companies surged in popularity, banks and financial services companies dropped. Falling the most spots in this year’s ranking is Credit Suisse, which fell eight spots from 39th to 47th. Deutsche Bank and Citi both fell seven spots to 31st and 34th, respectively. And three of the Big Four accounting firms — KPMG, EY, and PwC — each fell at least five spots. The only other two organizations that fell five spots or more were Barclays and Grant Thornton, again, financial services firms.

At the other end, many consumer products and goods companies surged in popularity. H&M had the largest gain, going from unranked last year to 30th this year. LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) gained nine spots from 29th last year to 20 this year. Daimler/Mercedes-Benz jumped eight spots from 36th to 28th. The next biggest mover was Amazon with its seven-spot leap. And Ford Motor Company and Microsoft each gained five spots.

‘HIGH FUTURE EARNINGS’ MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE OF EMPLOYERS

As part of the study, Universum also asks about the most desired employer attributes and preferred industries. Among both men and women business students, a “high earnings future” is the most desired employer attribute. For women, a friendly work environment is the second most popular desired attribute among employers. Market success is the second-most popular choice among men. Both men and women picked professional training and development as the third-most important employer attribute. Women chose secure employment and a creative and dynamic work environment as the fourth and fifth most desired employer attribute. While men picked a competitive base salary and a friendly work environment as the fourth and fifth most desired employer attributes.

In terms of preferred industries, women and men were more different. Women chose marketing, advertising, and PR as their most preferred industry. Men picked financial services and technology as their top choice. After marketing, advertising, and PR, women picked management and strategy consulting, financial services and technology, e-commerce, and banks, respectively. Men chose banks, management and strategy consulting, e-commerce, and marketing, advertising, and PR as their remaining top-five industries.

Universum study

SEE THE NEXT PAGE FOR AN ENTIRE LIST OF THE 2020 MOST ATTRACTIVE EMPLOYERS.