- Both business and STEM talent in Australia see Google as the most ideal choice

Today, Universum, a global leader in talent data and insights, shared the 
findings from the Australia portion of its annual global talent survey. Having 
collected the opinions of over 17,000 students from Australia's leading 
universities, the research sets out to track the career aspirations and 
preferences of Australia's future talent pool. The Australia study also 
recognizes the most coveted employers based solely on the responses collected. 

This year, Google retained its position as the most ideal employer among 
business students. Followed by Apple, Commonwealth Bank, Deloitte, Government – 
Federal/Commonwealth, KPMG, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Qantas, EY (Ernst & 
Young) and Government – State. 

The top 10 most attractive employers among engineering/IT students are Google, 
Microsoft, Apple, Government – Federal/Commonwealth, Amazon, Government – 
State, Qantas, CSIRO, BHP and Samsung. 

What students want

To better understand their career priorities, respondents were asked about the 
types of employer attributes they are attracted to the most. It was revealed 
that students favour employers who they perceive to provide secure employment, 
the potential for high future earnings, and a friendly work environment. Most 
interesting, though, is that this year's survey showed students are strongly 
drawn towards employers who adopt an ethical culture and demonstrate respect 
for their people. 

Jim Evans, senior consultant at Universum, said "Unsurprisingly, concerns 
resulting from the pandemic have made security a high priority for career 
seekers. It would, however, be remiss to believe that focusing communications 
primarily on this attribute would make an employer more attractive. What 
matters most to students in Australia is finding employers that offer the 
golden mix of security environment and development."

Overall students' top preferences
 
2021
 2020
 
1.       Secure employment

2.       High future earnings

3.       A friendly work environment

4.       Ethical standards

5.       Clear path for advancement
 1.       Secure employment

2.       High future earnings

3.       Clear path for advancement

4.       Professional training and development

5.       A friendly work environment
 
Salary expectations have increased

In the past year, Australia has experienced challenges, such as an economic 
downturn that led to an increase in the unemployment rate and the impact of the 
pandemic. However, the students in the country remain optimistic. When 
participants were asked to state the annual salary they expect upon graduation, 
the average expected annual salary is 90,271 AUD. The results also showed that 
the annual average salary expectations among business/commerce/management 
students had increased significantly. 

Business/Commerce/Management Students
 Engineering/IT Students
 
Year 
 
 Year
 
 
2021
 95 958 AUD
 2021
 87 375 AUD
 
2020
 82 023 AUD
 2020
 83 130 AUD
 

 

Universum 2021
 
Students' discipline
 Ideal Employer Ranking 2021
 
Business/Commerce/Management
 1. Google

2. Apple

3. Commonwealth Bank

4. Deloitte

5. Government - Federal/Commonwealth
 
Engineering/IT
 1. Google

2. Microsoft

3. Apple

4. Government - Federal/Commonwealth

5. Amazon
 

 

About the Universum 2021 Top 100 Ideal Employer Rankings – Australia Edition

The results are based on the answers of 17,160 students studying for degrees in 
business/commerce/management, engineering/IT, natural sciences, 
humanities/social sciences/education, law and health/medicine with 51,945 
individual evaluations of 144 employers within each main field of study from 
December 2020 to June 2021. Each respondent is asked questions about their 
career preferences, expectations and employment related drivers and then 
presented with a list of 144 national and international employers, nominated by 
the target group through an independent and structured nomination and 
assessment process, which prevents companies unfairly influencing their 
positions. The rankings consist of those employers chosen most as an 'ideal' 
choice when working through a structured funnel-based methodology. 

About Universum

Universum, part of the StepStone Group, is a global thought leader in Employer 
Branding. Universum has 32 years of peerless experience in the field of 
employer branding and is established in over 60 markets globally. Universum has 
a diverse workforce is physically present in 20 countries. With so much data, 
historically and geographically, Universum is uniquely positioned to deliver 
key insights to employers about how to attract and retain their future 
workforce. Our data-led, human and purposeful output has attracted over 1,700 
clients, including many Fortune 500 companies, as well as global media partners 
that publish our annual rankings and trend reports. Find out more at 
https://universumglobal.com/.


Source: Universum Communications Pte. Ltd