Google crowned world's most attractive employer
The search giant is the No. 1 place both business folks and engineers would want to work, while Microsoft, IBM, Intel, and Apple also rank highly, says a new study from Universum.
Google may have to prepare itself for a flood of even more resumes.
The search giant has been dubbed the most attractive employer by more than 160,000 people looking for the right place to work, according to a study released yesterday by employer branding company Universum.
Analyzing the choices from job seekers across the world's 12 largest economies, the study "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2011" (PDF) found Google tops among professionals with a business degree as well as those with an engineering background. This marks the third consecutive year that the search giant has been No. 1 in both the business and engineering categories.
"The talent market for business career seekers is being dominated by the professional services firms, known for being great places to launch a career, and by companies that offer a new working culture in a dynamic environment," Lovisa Ohnell, head of Research and Consulting at Universum, said in a statement. "For the last three years we have been seeing Google leading the pack and it will take a strong player with a clear talent strategy to steal this No. 1 spot."
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Looking at other tech players, Microsoft found itself in sixth place among business users, while Apple was ninth. Further down the list of the top 50 in the business category were IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Dell, and Cisco Systems.
Engineers seeking the best employer named IBM and Microsoft in second and third place, respectively. Intel took fifth place, Sony sixth, and Apple followed in the seventh spot. Other technology firms favored by engineers included HP, Cisco, Oracle, Nokia, Dell, and Lenovo.
Noting the top players in this category, Universum pointed to intense competition for talent in the software field, a fight that's being won by American companies.
"The software industry is highly dependent on its human capital, hence the efforts to attract and retain the brightest minds in the world," Carlo Duraturo, Global Account Director at Universum, said in a statement. "There's a new working-culture paradigm today--the relaxed & creative office--and part of it we owe to this industry. Generation Y feels very comfortable working in this new environment and it's clearly reflected in the attractiveness of the software industry."
Overall, American multinational companies dominated both the business and engineering rankings, according to Universum. Financial organizations are proving more popular among engineers, while tech companies have gained ground among business professionals. And job seekers across both categories pointed to a work/life balance as the most desirable benefit that a potential employer can offer.
Another Universum study released in March found Google and Apple as the most desirable employers among 10,000 college graduates.