Which companies are students’ favourites?

Four studies were published almost simultaneously over the last few days to try to understand the preferences of students in terms of jobs and employers:

• The first is Universum, a Swedish group specialised in rankings, which published two studies, one on the most attractive companies at international scale, and a second one on the favourite companies of the French (after two to three years of studies).
   
• The L’Etudiant magazine also published a ranking of the favourite companies of young French graduates;
   
• And the BVA institute launched a study for ISC Paris business schools group to understand what is “happiness at work” for the young French from 18 to 24 years old.

The Universum ranking

The global ranking

The Universum group published the results of its 14th annual report on the most attractive employers worldwide. To carry out its inquiry, Universum surveyed this year over 185,000 students in business, engineering and computer science courses in the 9 biggest economies in the world (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States). 

The ranking is organised depending on the type of training course, but almost the same big companies appear in the rankings:

• Top 5 of most attractive companies for students in business/management: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, L’Oréal group;
   
• Top 5 of student-engineers: Google, Microsoft, Apple, BMW group, Siemens;
   
• Top 5 of student in computer science: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, IBM.

In comments of these results that show that the GAFAs still have a long road ahead, Universum notes that “young people are very focused on salaries”, despite the fact that they have new expectations in terms of social advantages and quality of life. Whether in groups of business, engineering and IT students surveyed by Universum, “young people think their salary is critical when choosing their ideal employer”. Thus, “competitive salaries” and “high future earnings” are two of the three main priorities for students. Universum concludes that with high inflation and staggering economic growth, “employers will need to revamp their entry salaries for new graduates by balancing high student expectations with protection of company revenues”.

The French ranking

Universum also offers a ranking of the favourite companies of French students and young professionals. For this 2022 edition, 14,200 students and working people with 2/3 years in higher education pointed their “ideal employers” and expressed their professional expectations: salary, social environment and diversity of missions.

The ranking makes a distinction between the choices of students and those of young professionals, but the latter differs shows little difference depending on their situation. On the other hand, the ranking is completely different from the expectations of the students surveyed for the worldwide ranking, favouring French employers or international groups with French subsidiaries:

• Students’ Top 5: Air France, Airbus, Volkswagen, Renault, Thales;
   
• Top 5 for young professionals: EDF, Air France, Airbus, SNCF, Thales.

The L’Etudiant ranking

The magazine L’Etudiant has published its usual ranking of the major companies preferred by French students and young graduates. More than 10,000 young students were asked about the companies “that are a reference on the labour market as employers”. In the Top 5 of the overall ranking, the following companies stand out in order of importance: Airbus, Décathlon, Air France, Thales and LVMH.

Commenting on these results, which differ greatly from the general ranking by Universum, but are very close to its French ranking, L’Etudiant notes that the aeronautics sector is showing renewed interest this year.

The Airbus group is employer that appears the most: 31.4% of respondents believe that “Airbus is a good employer and a reference in its field”. Decathlon reaches the 2nd place, “as it is considered by 27.5% of respondents as a reference employer”. Finally, Air France KLM completes the top podium, being mentioned by 26.3% of the young people surveyed.

Like Universum, L’Etudiant also offers a ranking by type of training, interesting for its diversity:

• Top 3 of university students: Décathlon, CNRS, Google;
• Top 3 of student-engineers: Airbus, European Space Agency (ESA), EDF;
• Top 3 students in business schools: Décathlon, LVMH, L’Oréal group (the only company to be found in the international rankings of both the Universum and L’Etudiant).

The BVA-ISC survey

ISC Paris (a group of business schools) and the BVA institute have published the results of the first edition of a barometer entitled Happiness at work as seen by people aged 18 to 24.

Teams behind this survey analysed the responses of a representative sample of 1,102 young people, including 557 students at national level, and their barometer focuses on how young people see the usefulness of training course to achieve their professional objectives, on the importance of having a balance between personal life and employment, on their definition of professional success, and on their “dream jobs”.

Overall, the barometer shows that young people are confident in most areas. A few key figures bear witness to this, despite some reservations:

• 82% of students believe that their training course will help them achieve their professional goals;
   
• 27% of young people expect that their training will help them obtain a diploma recognised by employers, but 52% of them “believe that today it is no longer necessary to study long hours to succeed”;
   
• 45% of the young people questioned said they were not “ready to sacrifice everything they have because their happiness and well-being come first”;
   
• 44% of young people want to “things to change” after a first work experience: 14% of them want to create a company, 11% want to change their living environment and 8% prefer to change their profession or sector;
   
• 35% of young people prefer a job in a small company or the creation of their own company to get their dream job. Thus, according to young people aged 18-24, three criteria are critical to work in their ideal job: the salary offered (42%), the atmosphere at work (31%) and the opportunities for professional development (19%).