After their strong seven-year run at the top, Google has lost its first-place position among Swedish Business Talent to Spotify

Universum has just released the 2020 findings of their annual Swedish Talent Survey. This year, 24.208 students shared their opinions and views on their career goals, preferences and ideal employers. The number of respondents in this year’s survey makes up 5,3% of the current student population in the country.

Google vs. Spotify
Google has dominated the rankings for many years, among business talent, they topped the list from 2012 to 2019.  While Google continues rank top in Msc Engineering IT, the global tech giants have begun to lose ground to Spotify. Over the past three years, we have seen Spotify increasingly gain ground and get closer to overtaking Google in the other main fields of study. Within the top three for IT students we also find Microsoft which has also increased in popularity within several main fields of study in 2020.

Sustainability and secure employment
Coming into a new decade we see a clear increase in the attractiveness of employers who show commitment within sustainability. Both environmental consciousness and employers that have a focus on social sustainability have increased in popularity among talent in Sweden. Around 45% of students would not consider an employer who isn’t showing commitment to become more sustainable.

Another clear trend for 2020 among student preferences is the importance of feeling secure in their employment. This could be an effect of the economic slowdown Sweden was experiencing towards the end of 2019.

High ethical standards is another attribute which we can see is being prioritised in this year’s survey. This indicates a connection to the Greta-effect, which has been driving more focus on sustainability and ethical business practices. Overall, these values are being prioritised when students are choosing future employers.

Salary gap
The gender gap for expected salary between men and women remains relatively high. Women expect 7% less in entry salary than men in general. The smallest gap between men and women is found between law students, where men expect 1,5% more in entry salary than women.

Industry trends
Companies within FMCG are steadily climbing across the rankings, especially among business students. Employers such as Oatly, Essity and Carlsberg have all gained ground this year. Computer hardware and Tech are other industries which are increasing this year while industries such as Retail and Banking are decreasing, with the exception of Fintech companies such as Klarna, Avanza and iZettle which have all increased in popularity

Top 3 of the Most Attractive Employers in Sweden

Business:
1. Spotify
2. Google
3. IKEA

BSc Engineering:
1. Volvo Cars
2. Google
3. Sweco

MSc Engineering: 
1. Google
2. Volvo Cars
3. Spotify

IT:
1. Google
2. Spotify
3. Microsoft

Law:
1. Mannheimer Swartling
2. FN
3. Åklagarmyndigheten

See the full list of top 100 ranked employers and find out more about the career goals and preferences of Swedish talent