World’s Most Attractive Employers 2020

Research from Universum reveals the motivations of university graduates as they enter the global workforce.

Universum Global, has just released its 12th annual World’s Most Attractive Employers report. This year Universum surveyed over 235,000 business and engineering/IT students in the world’s 12 largest economies (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK and the US). We asked this group of future talent to provide insights on the company characteristics they find most attractive in a potential employer, as well as who they perceive to be their ideal employer.

Our 2020 report dives into the latest global Employer Branding strategies that are currently resonating with the upcoming workforces and includes preferences and comparisons from talent across the globe. This year’s report includes:

Key Findings
World’s Most Attractive Employers: Rankings
Study Details and Breakdowns by Field of Study and Gender
How employers are defining Office Culture in the COVID Era
Preferred Industries and Most Desired Employer Attributes for Business and Engineering/IT Talent

Student Backgrounds | WMAE 2020
46.3% business (108,866) / 53.7% engineering/IT (126,407)

The 2020 World’s Most Attractive Employer rankings demonstrate that companies can make transformative changes in how they are perceived among would-be employees in just a year or two. Innovation-fueled brands like Amazon, Daimler AG and Philips made significant gains in the rankings. The challenge—and opportunity—for employer brands in 2020 is to judge how the global pandemic and economic downturn will affect employees’ work priorities over the next 12 to 18 months.

Mats Röjdmark

Former CEO, Universum

Why should you follow the WMAE?

By following the world’s most attractive employers, we can analyze the desires of talent and find out how those desires align with their perceptions of potential employers. Understanding the motivations of candidates will help companies of any size be better prepared to attract, recruit and retain talent. 