Ranking: Which employers do Hong Kong graduates most want to work for in 2023?

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Having a friendly work environment in employment was ranked as students’ top preference this year.

J.P. Morgan and the HKSAR Government continue to rank as the most ideal employers by business/commerce students and engineering/natural sciences students respectively in 2023, according to the Hong Kong findings of the latest annual global talent survey by Universum.

Preferences of business/commerce students

This year, J.P. Morgan retained its top position as the most ideal employer among business/commerce students, followed by HSBC, same as the previous year. 

The top five ideal employers among business/commerce students in 2023 are:

1. J.P. Morgan
2. HSBC
3. Morgan Stanley (+3 places)
4. Google ( -1 place)
5. HKSAR Government ( -1 place)

Companies that have significantly risen in the employer rankings for business/commerce students are:

• Barclays (+14 places to 50) (financial services & technology)
• Deutsche Bank (+11 places to 33) (banking)
• United Nations (+10 places to 39) (public sector & governmental agencies)
• Hyatt (+10 places to 44) (tourism & hospitality)
• Ernst & Young (+8 places to 11) (auditing and accounting)
• Cathay Pacific Airways (+8 places to 14) (passenger transportation)
• Nike (+8 places to 37) (fashion, accessories and luxury goods)

Business/commerce students ranked banking as their most preferred industry (50%), followed by financial services & technology (35%) and management & strategy consulting (33%). A notable increase was shown in students’ preference to work in management & strategy consulting, which increased by over 10% from last year.

Preferences of engineering/natural sciences students

For engineering/natural sciences students, the HKSAR Government has been selected as their top ideal employer for the fourth consecutive year. Their top 50 rankings of ideal employers saw notable shifts as Citi climbed in the list, jumping 46 places to 47^th.

The top five ideal employers among engineering/natural sciences students in 2023 are:

1. HKSAR Government
2. Google
3. Apple
4. Microsoft
5. J.P. Morgan

Other companies across various industries that have climbed significantly in the employer rankings for engineering/natural sciences students are:

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority (+23 places to 50) (public sector & governmental agencies)
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (+23 places to 49) (fashion, accessories and luxury goods)
• The Coca-Cola Company (+17 places to 35) (fast moving consumer goods)
• HSBC (+16 places to 12) (banking)
• BMW Group (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce Motorcars) (+14 places to 28) (automotive)
• GE – General Electric (+14 places to 41) (manufacturing)

Engineering/natural sciences students ranked education (23%), arts, entertainment & recreation (22%), computer software & technology (22%), banking (22%) and IT & engineering consulting (20%) as their top five industry choices.

Apart from understanding the industry and employer preferences of Hong Kong’s graduates across different disciplines, the report shed light on their expectations in employment and salary, and identified the four main trends as follows.

Prioritising a friendly work environment

Continuing the trend from 2022, “a friendly work environment” was ranked as students’ top preference in 2023, followed by “professional training & development” and “encouraging work-life balance”.

Notably, “high future earnings” was ranked lower than the previous year, declining by two places to fourth position. This highlighted the shift in expectations from students, as they increasingly prioritise factors impacting their wellbeing more over financial earnings.

Seeking less starting salary

This year's results showed a decrease in students’ expected annual salary upon graduation, where it declined to HKD292.9k (HKD24.4k per month) from HKD303.0k (HKD25.2k per month) in 2022, dropping 3%.

Amongst students studying business/commerce, expected salaries decreased by 6% to HKD279.7k per annum (HKD23.3k per month), while engineering/natural sciences students’ expected salaries showed a relatively smaller decrease of 2% to HKD299.2k per annum (HKD24.9k per month), compared to 2022.

This suggests that students are likely aware of the shift away from the 'Great Resignation' period and into a less certain economic environment where high-profile layoffs are more common, hence are more prudent in their salary expectations.

Widening gender gap on expected annual salary

In 2023, the gender gap on expected annual salary widened to 9% with expected salaries of men at HKD320.7k and women at HKD293.4k per annum, but is relatively lower than previous years (2019: 12%, 2020: 14%, 2021: 13%).

The widening gender gap on expected annual salary indicates that while talent are aware of the tougher economic conditions compared to a year ago, the drop of confidence is slightly higher among women.

Increasing importance of social media to engage with future talent

Talents are increasingly using social media channels, such as LinkedIn and Instagram, as a channel to learn about employers and organisations. Social media was ranked as the most-used communication channel among talent (62%), showing a 7% increase from 55% in 2022.

Online job boards (the second most-used communication channel) and employer’s career websites (the second most-used online platform) are also still important sources for students to find out about employers. With a range of at least four channels as sources of information on their preferred employer, this demonstrates how talents are ensuring they do adequate research when deciding on where to apply and what offers to accept.

Commenting on this year's findings, Mike Parsons, Managing Director of APAC for Universum, said young talent in Hong Kong and more developed markets worldwide prioritises work environment and career development over financial earnings and salary. This provides employers with an opportunity to redefine their offers and messaging to prospective talent. Employers also need to ensure they are leveraging social media channels to better engage their targeted future talent.

Universum’s 2023 Global Talent Survey – Hong Kong Edition surveyed 4,179 students studying for degrees in business/commerce, engineering/natural sciences, IT, humanities/liberal arts/education, law and health/medicine from nine universities in Hong Kong.

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