X

Young workers want to work for Google, Apple

A study finds that young professionals want to work with Google and Apple more than any other companies in the United States. Amazon and Microsoft make the top 10 too.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read

Tech companies make a strong showing in a study released today on the firms young professionals most want to work with.

Google topped the list of most-desired employers, employer-branding company Universum found.

Apple and Walt Disney Co. were next in line. Amazon.com was the fifth-most-desirable employer. Microsoft came in seventh place, according to the survey, which polled 10,000 college graduates with one to eight years of professional experience. .

Those tech firms were surrounded mostly by government agencies. The Department of State was the fourth-most-desired employer, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation came in sixth. The Central Intelligence Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration took the eighth and ninth places, respectively. Teach For America, an organization that places young college graduates in rural and urban schools to teach for two years, came in tenth place.

So, why did Google and Apple win? Easy, says Universum: their brands.

"Companies that have appealing consumer brands generally also succeed in being perceived as attractive employers," Universum Employer Branding specialist Kortney Kutsop said in a statement. "People nowadays love to work for companies that produce their favorite products and services. Also, market success is an important factor: the company needs to be generally seen as innovative and best-in-class in whatever they do--that's the winning formula."

Even though some employers are more desirable than others, even Google might have a hard time getting young professionals in a single job for an extended amount of time, Universum said. The company found that 25 percent of young professionals want to change their jobs within the next six months, while 28 percent plan to do so in one to two years. Half of all the respondents "have applied for a new job either externally or internally in the past year."