Google remains the favoured employer in Singapore

According to the most recent global talent survey from Universum, Google is the most ideal employers for business, engineering, and IT students in Singapore.

More than 8,500 students from Singapore’s four main universities – SMU, NTU, NUS and SISS (formerly SIM) – participated in the survey.

The Top 10 employers among Business and Engineering students were as follows:

“Singapore is cultivating increasingly open-minded young talent who are creative, dedicated and eager to make an impact no matter what role they play in an organisation. For JP Morgan, being a top employer means helping them achieve the future that they envision. We need to be a part of their career journey – find out what drives them and what they are passionate about, and create opportunities to reach out to them in an authentic way,” said Joy Lee, Head of Campus Recruitment for Asia-Pacific at JP Morgan. The firm ranked fourth among business students.

“A diversity of backgrounds and a collaborative work culture are critical to our success as a firm. We continue to invest heavily in our people, technology and infrastructure and we believe junior talent makes an impact by bringing their perspectives and innovative ideas to the table,” she added.

Graduate career goals

When asked about their career goals upon graduation, regardless of field of study or gender, students overwhelmingly indicated a demand for “work/life balance”. This was the most selected career goal of students in Singapore for the second year running – almost 70% of all students surveyed chose this as one of their top three career goals.

The second most selected career goal was “to be secure or stable in my career”, and then, thirdly, to “feel dedicated to a cause or to serve a greater good”. For engineering and natural science students this remains unchanged from a year ago. For business students, feeingl dedicated to a cause overtook last year’s preference “to be a leader or manager of people” in the third ranking.

Finding purpose in one’s career has been trending among millennial talent, especially in more developed markets. This also seems to ring true in Singapore, where young professional talent wants to feel there is a purpose to whatever they’re doing and is a big factor in the employer they choose.

“Aligning candidates with cultural fit during the hiring process is critical, it leads to stronger engagement, higher retention, lower cost per hire and, mostly, happier more productive employees and a more positive working environment. Today in Singapore, no doubt, any employer that does not display the right values, culture and opportunity and intellectual and personal development, will be left behind,” said Rachele Focardi, Senior Vice-President for Asia-Pacific at Universum.

The full research report is available at this link.