Google, EY and the civil service are Hong Kong graduates’ ideal employers, survey says
Universum’s latest online poll showed more Hong Kong students favour so-called work/life balance and a starting annual salary of HK$220,000
United States internet giant Google, British professional services firm EY and the Hong Kong government lead the latest ranking of the most sought-after employers for the city’s university students, according to a new survey.
The findings by Universum, a global employer-branding company based in Sweden, showed 5,435 university students had participated in its recent online poll for Hong Kong’s “Top 100 Ideal Employers”, which saw Google top the business category for the third consecutive year.
Google, the main subsidiary of Nasdaq-traded technology company Alphabet, was ranked fifth in the same category of Universum’s 2014 student survey in the city.
London-based EY, one of the world’s “big four” accounting firms and formerly known as Ernst & Young, moved a spot ahead of the Hong Kong government in this year’s survey to rank as the second most desired employer.
That showed students’ increased preference to join major international organisations, rather than seek employment in large Hong Kong companies.
“Organisations can no longer ignore the impact of millennials,” said Rachele Focardi, Universum’s senior vice-president for employer branding, about the generational demographic born between 1982 and 2004.