Public sector and government is one of the most preferred industries among Canadian students, Universum survey finds
NEW YORK, July 11, 2013 /CNW/ - Universum the Employer Branding Research Firm, with its Canadian partners Brainstorm Strategy Group and Decode, released the 2013 IDEAL™ Employer ranking for Canada on July 10th, 2013 in Globe and Mail. Based on a survey of nearly 29,000 undergraduate students, the IDEAL rankings show student sentiment within industries, unveil students' most desired employers and reveal trends of interest. This year's results included a strong showing from Business and Humanities students, who represented over half of the survey's respondents.
Workforce analysts, university recruiters and career experts have looked to Universum for the last 25 years to provide insights into student perception, employment trends and industry shifts. The following are key insights behind the 2013 IDEAL Canadian Employer Rankings:
Public Service Reigns
In a surprising twist, Canadian undergraduates seem to overwhelmingly prefer service and government positions, rather than the American front-runner industries, Management Consulting and Retail. Banks, which rated poorly in the U.S. IDEAL rankings, seemed to stand firm in Canada, showing up as the fourth most popular industry the list. Tourism, legal services and fashion fared even worse, rounding out the least sought after industries.
This could be because, even among business students, work-life balance topped the charts at the most important career goal, with 64% of students selecting it. The number dipped just slightly at 60% for engineering students. Overall, Canadian Engineering / IT students are most interested in work/life balance and job security, in addition to a creative and friendly work environment and intellectual challenges.
"It's hard to pinpoint the driver of this work-life balance expectation – is it an intrinsic Gen Y trait or is it the increased flexibility of organizations like top IDEAL employer, Google, that has led to this expectation? Whichever the reason it has become a minimum expectation and companies need to incorporate it into their Employer Value Proposition to remain competitive," said Melissa Murray Bailey, President – Americas at Universum.
Trust in Government Supersedes Strong Consumer Branding
Google nabbed the top spot among Business students and its close competitor on other global rankings, Apple, came in third after the Government of Canada. Starbucks, a perennial favorite in Canada's neighbor to the south, lags at the end of the top 30 list.
It's not where; it's WHAT
The IT and Engineering students had some overlap with Business students when it came to choosing their IDEAL employers, and they definitely agreed on work-life balance as a major career goal. However, these groups of students differed wildly on what they want in a work environment. For Business students, it was imperative to work in a friendly work environment, while engineering students chose creative, dynamic and challenging to describe their ideal work situations.
According to Graham Donald, President of Brainstorm Strategy Group, "There's been a remarkable movement over the past several years towards a focus on the workplace experience. This generation is driving employers to focus on creating a healthy work environment - whether through great team relationships, connections to mentors, training and development, or a greater sense of job security. Employers that can attract and retain Gen Y will experience greater productivity and loyalty from all their employers, regardless of age."
| Business |
||
| Employer |
2013 |
|
| Percent |
Rank |
|
| |
20,88% |
1 |
| Government of Canada |
13,82% |
2 |
| Apple |
13,45% |
3 |
| KPMG |
12,54% |
4 |
| TD Bank Financial Group / TD Canada Trust |
12,09% |
5 |
| Deloitte |
11,57% |
6 |
| Ernst & Young |
11,15% |
7 |
| PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) |
10,76% |
8 |
| RBC Financial Group / Royal Bank of Canada |
8,68% |
9 |
| The Walt Disney Company |
8,19% |
10 |
| Engineering/IT |
||
| Employer |
2013 |
|
| Percent |
Rank |
|
| |
29,92% |
1 |
| Microsoft |
20,13% |
2 |
| Apple |
16,56% |
3 |
| IBM |
12,25% |
4 |
| Bombardier |
10,70% |
5 |
| |
10,42% |
6 |
| SNC-Lavalin |
9,73% |
7 |
| Government of Canada |
9,65% |
8 |
| Intel |
8,42% |
9 |
| Suncor Energy |
8,18% |
10 |
Universumglobal.com: Canada's Ideal Employers 2013: http://bit.ly/12hi7jP
The Globe and Mail: Where do Millennials want to work? : http://bit.ly/13M5Fhe
About Universum
Universum is an international company that specializes in the field of employer branding*. Founded in 1988, its goal was to improve communication between students and the employers who want to recruit them. Today, Universum's mission is to help employers excel in recruitment and retention by ensuring improvements to their employer brand. Universum delivers a full range of services in research, strategic consulting and communication solutions that enable employers to better understand, attract and retain current and future ideal employees. Universum is a trusted partner to 1,200 clients, including many Fortune 500 companies, and co-operates with 1,500 universities worldwide to conduct research on the career and employer preferences of top talent. On an annual basis, the company surveys approximately 500,000 students and professionals worldwide. For more information, go to www.universumglobal.com
For the complete list of rankings, or to schedule an interview, please contact Jonas Barck, jonas.barck@universumusa.com or +1 858.405.5711
SOURCE: Universum
http://www.universumglobal.com
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