For Millennials the Energy industry becomes less attractive while strong lifestyle brands are on the rise
Business and engineering/IT students in the world’s 12 largest economies have chosen their favorite employers. More than 267,000 millennials in Universum’s Talent Survey have ranked the companies they find most desirable for employment, and the results delivered some valuable insights.
The World’s Most Attractive Employer companies, must rank in the top 90 percent of employers within at least six regional markets. If an employer is not listed or is ranked outside the top 90% in a market, it gets a default ranking which is equal to the position of the last company in the top 90% for that market. Results are weighted by GDP, so that a high ranking position in the U.S. has a greater influence than a high ranking position in India, for example.
It’s all about creating the right balance
Business and engineering/IT students are actively in pursuit of obtaining a well-balanced lifestyle that encompasses work with personal time. A well-balanced lifestyle is the number one career ambition in both fields of study for all countries apart from India, where having an international career is considered more important and Russia, where job security is key. Overall, engineering/IT talent tend to have more in common with their peers in other markets than the business students in their own countries.
English-speaking countries unique in their similarity
Very little localization of the Employer Value Proposition is required for most English speaking countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. Meanwhile the differentiation in the APAC region demonstrates that there’s no clear outline in connection to what’s considered attractive. Japan is especially unique, distinct from any other country Universum surveys.
A Definite “Western European pattern” does exist, this could be due to the close geographical proximity of the countries in the region, but it most likely has more to do with alternate career paths available for millennials in these markets. For example, students interested in manufacturing jobs, have better access to high school-level technical schooling and union protections to a far higher extent than in other markets covered.
Google retains the top spot for business and engineering/IT talent, but Apple is biting at their heels
On the engineering/IT side, Google retains its top position followed by Microsoft, Apple, BMW Group and IBM, which took over GE’s spot at 5. On the Business rankings, Apple which moved up 5 spots from 7thto 2ndplace is challenging Google for the top position, followed by EY and Goldman Sachs. PwC fell 3 places to 5thplace.
Banks are struggling to compete with tech firms for business talent, and 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.
There has also been mixed fortunes for consumer goods firms, with strong “lifestyle” brands doing better than others, such as Nike debuting on the ranking at 16, ahead of the Adidas group at 19. There is a stable attractiveness for the automotive industry, with the exception of Volkswagen for both business & 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 collapse in oil & gas prices, yet renewable energy firms have seen a spike in popularity amongst both sets of talent.