Europe’s Most Attractive Employers of 2012 Revealed by Universum

Universum released the first ever European talent attraction index based on the preferences of over 85,000 career seekers with a business or engineering background. “Europe’s Most Attractive Employers 2012” has two sections, the business category presenting preferences from business career seekers, and the engineering category which shows preferences from engineering career seekers, revealing the current level of attractiveness that companies have as employers and their future potential.

Google leads the Top 50 Business, followed by L´Oréal, Ernst & Young, Procter & gamble and KPMG. The top 10 is completed by other important names such as BMW, McKinsey & Company, Unilever, PwC and Microsoft.

In the Top 50 Engeneering, BMW takes the lead, followed by IBM, Siemens, Google and Microsoft. Other companies that made it into the top 10 are EADS (Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian, Eurocopter), Bosch, General Electric, McKinsey & Company and Philips.

“BMW and L´Oréal attract the students with exciting products and market success. Beyond the power of the consumer brand, the students value the innovation and the international career possibilities” said Jörgen Gullbrandson, Universum´s Head of EMEA.

We can easily notice that important brands occupy great places in both tops. Some of them were also included in other relevant tops released at this time of the year. For instance, Microsoft ranked first in Forbes’ top companies with best CSR reputations.

You can check the complete Europe’s Most Attractive Employers 2012 lists here . The key findings of the study were that “professional services are on top” (companies like Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC and Deloitte made the top and show that this is an expanding industry in Europe), there are “mixed feelings for the software and computer services industry” (as companies in these fields ranked well in the businesses top, but students aren’t drawn by the industry itself), “Europeans seek professional training and development” and “secure employment and an international dimension are important”.

“There are high expectations among students to work for companies that help them with their development. Unfortunately, most employers are not perceived to meet these expectations,” stated Mr. Gullbrandson.