What’s the most attractive employer in the world? According to Randstad, it’s the home of Clippy, Internet Explorer and Surface.
Microsoft received the Global Randstad Award 2015, identifying Microsoft as the most attractive employer brand worldwide. 67.8% of the respondents in the survey indicate they would like to work for Microsoft. The first runner-up of the award 2015 is Sony, the second runner-up is Samsung. The IT industry is the most popular sector to potential job seekers, men (69%) and women (70%) alike.
Stijn Nauwelaerts, general manager of human resources for Microsoft International:
“At Microsoft, we aspire to empower every individual and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. It’s an important mission, against which we will only make progress if our employees are set up to do their best work. We take this commitment – both to our employees and to our millions of customers around the world – very seriously, and we’re particularly pleased to see Microsoft recognised as the #1 place to work for both women and men.”
National winners
Whilst Microsoft won the overall (and US) rankings, there were some variations across countries:
- In the UK John Lewis placed first, coming from 3rd place last year
- In Canada IBM Canada won first prize and was crowned most attractive employer
- Australia’s most attractive employer in 2015 is Virgin Australia
- New Zealand saw the Department of Conservation become the most attractive employer of the country
- In Poland KGHM Polska Miedź won first prize for their excellent achievements
- In Sweden DIY giant IKEA was crowned most attractive employer
- In Italy Ferrero won the award, and placed first in the categories ‘pleasant working atmosphere’, ‘long-term job security’, work-life balance’ and ‘financially healthy company’
- Japan’s Kirin Holdings won first prize for their outstanding achievements
- RTL Group won first prize in Luxembourg for the second time in a row
- Philips won first price in The Netherlands
- The winner in Russia is Gazprom
- The winner in Hong Kong was Cathay Pacific
- Belgium saw European Commission winning first prize
- In Hungary Mercedes-Benz took the gold home
- Google India won first prize in India for their outstanding achievements
- In Spain Sony placed first
- Procter & Gamble placed first in Singapore.
Drivers of choice
Globally the most important drivers of choice according to all respondents are salary & employee benefits, long-term job security, and a pleasant working atmosphere. However, employers are not recognised for these drivers – the top 3 attributed to employers are financial health, strong management, and good training.
Stay or go?
The Randstad Award survey reveals that the most important reason why employees leave their employer is a limited career path. People who are considering to leave in the next 12 months mostly do so because of dissatisfaction with compensation. The most mentioned reason to stay however, is a good work-life balance.
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