Budimex in the top four most desirable employers

Mercedes, Google, Volkswagen, Budimex – these are the top four most desirable employers in the engineering category in the HRM Institute research. 

The Universum Talent Survey, conducted by Universum Global, is the largest survey of its kind in the world, in which students from over 60 countries participate. Over 16,000 Polish students took part in this year’s edition of the survey. As every year, on the basis of the votes of the survey participants, the Universum Most Attractive Employers Poland rankings were created in seven categories: business, engineering, IT, medical sciences, exact sciences, humanities and law.

Employer attributes important for students

What attracts the attention of candidates and makes them find the employer attractive? The most important attributes of the employer brand for students of business, engineering and IT faculties are: good salaries in the future and good career prospects. Next in line for business students and future engineers are: respect for employees, job security, and training and development. Students of IT faculties mention: training and development, respect for the employee and a friendly work environment.

Anna Macnar, CEO of HRM Institute (partner of Universum in Poland) points out that Respect for employees has crept into the top of the most important attributes of the employer brand quite recently, but it seems that it will stay there for longer. Candidates want to be sure that the employer will care about and respect their people, regardless of their views.

Changes to preferences

On the surface, it may seem that compared to last year, the changes in student preferences are not very large, because the TOP 5 most important attributes of employers were formed in 2019. likewise. However, it is worth paying attention to the attributes that gained the most percentage points compared to last year.

IT students pay much more attention to the employer’s ethical standards (+9 p.p.), respect for employees (+6 p.p.), a clear promotion path and job security (+5 p.p. each). Among engineering students, the largest increases were recorded in attributes such as: job security (+6 p.p.) and good career prospects (+5 p.p.). Among business students, good career prospects have the largest increase (+6 p.p.).

Employers still often tempt candidates in advertisements with work in a creative and dynamic environment, while this is the attribute that has lost its importance the most (from -8 to -9 p.p., depending on the field of study). Students also look less at the market success of the employer (from -3 to -5 p.p.). Interestingly, among IT students, the use of new technologies by employers has lost its importance (a decrease of 7 p.p.), and future engineers attach less importance to the possibility of quick promotion (-7 p.p.).

As Anna Macnar emphasizes Job security has been of great importance to candidates for years. This employer brand attribute tends to be at the forefront of the most desirable traits, and in the situation we find ourselves in now, both candidates and employees are more likely to think of a safe employer. During the pandemic, an additional factor is added to the stability of employment: physical safety in the workplace, including effective protection against coronavirus infection. Young candidates, looking for their first job, will also look for information on how the company operates during the pandemic, how it communicated with employees and took care of them.

Dream industries

Among business students, the most popular industries are: banking (41% of responses), marketing, advertising and PR (39%) and audit and accounting (25%). Students of engineering faculties indicate the industrial and mechanical (26%), construction (21%) and architecture and urban planning (20%) sectors. IT students are tempted by industries related to software and computer technology (73%) and computer games (41%). Medical students most often focus on: entertainment, culture and recreation (38% of responses), marketing, advertising and PR (35%) and the education industry (31%). For science students, the most interesting industries are: pharmacy and biotechnology (31%) and chemistry (29%). Medical students would primarily like to work in hospitals and health care (66%), and for law students, employers offering legal services will be the most interesting (65% of responses).

What information do students look for about employers on the Internet?

The most important type of information for students is salary and benefits (very important or important for 95% of survey participants). This was followed by training and development (92% of responses), promotion opportunities (91%), daily tasks performed at work (86%) and the workplace itself (82%). It is worth writing about these topics on social media, because they will attract the attention of potential candidates.

Obtaining information about employers

Before applying to a given employer, students check information about them in several channels. The most popular are, of course, online communication channels. Among them, social media were in the first place, followed by job boards and career websites of the employer. They are eager to verify the knowledge gained online during real meetings, such as job fairs (which are more popular among engineering and IT students than business students) and meetings with employers at universities.

Dream earnings

Students’ salary expectations vary not only by field of study but also by gender. The highest earnings after graduation are expected by students of IT faculties – on average PLN 5,167 gross (men – PLN 5,450, women – PLN 4,586). Slightly lower expectations are held by engineering students, who declare that they would like to earn an average of PLN 4,602 gross (men – PLN 5,242, women – PLN 4,166). The lowest earnings are expected by students of business faculties – PLN 4,334 gross (men – PLN 5,143, women – PLN 4,084). 

The most attractive employers in Poland in the Universum 2020 ranking

The best employers were selected in seven categories: Business, Engineering, IT, Science, Health/Medicine, Law, Humanities/Education/Arts.

In the TOP10 in the rankings of individual categories there were:

Business/ Commerce Ranking

1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. LOT Polish Airlines
4. Facebook
5. NBP National Bank of Poland
6. TVN
7. PKO Bank Polish
8. Amazon
9. Volkswagen Group
10. Deloitte

Ranking Engineering

1. Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Polska
2. Google
3. Volkswagen Group
4. Budimex
5. Microsoft
6. LOT Polish Airlines
7. Volvo Group
8. Toyota
9. Skanska Group
10. PGE (Polska Grupa Energetyczna)

Ranking IT

1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Facebook
4. Intel
5. Ubisoft
6. Amazon
7. CD PROJEKT RED Capital Group
8. Samsung Electronics UK
9. IBM South Africa
10. Techland

Science Ranking

1. Google
2. Polpharma
3. Ziaja
4. L’Oréal Poland
5. Dr Irena Eris
6. Microsoft
7. Bayer
8. Wedel
9. Nestlé Poland
10. Nivea UK

Ranking Arts / Arts / Education

1. Google
2. TVN
3. LOT Polish Airlines
4. Empik Group
5. Facebook
6. Microsoft
7. Polish Radio
8. Polsat TV
9. IKEA
10. Sephora

Law Ranking

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. Wardyński & Partners
3. Google
4. LOT Polish Airlines
5. Microsoft
6. PKO Bank Polish
7. TVN
8. SMM LEGAL Maciak Mataczyński Advocates
9. Deloitte
10. Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak

Ranking Health / Medical

1. Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw
2. Ministry of Health
3. Lux Med Group
4. Children’s Memorial Health Institute
5. Medicover
6. Sports Medicine Center
7. ENEL-MED Medical Centre
8. Polpharma
9. Bayer
10. EMC Institute of Medicine