Top 10 employers preferred by Singapore's future talent pool in 2022

Overall, when considering these rankings, students were noted to prefer employers who offer work-life balance the most.

The Universum 2022 Top 100 Ideal Employer Rankings – Singapore Edition has once again returned to take a deeper look into the career aspirations and preferences of Singapore's future talent pool, recognising the most coveted employers based solely on collected responses. 

This year, Google was once again ranked first as Singapore's top-most attractive employer amongst local university students in both business/commerce and IT. Interestingly, TikTok managed to make the list for students in business/commerce, IT, and humanities/liberal arts/education students.

The full lists are as follows:

Top 10 ideal employers among business/commerce students

1. Google
2. Apple
3. J.P. Morgan
4. Walt Disney Company
5. Goldman Sachs
6. Changi Airport Group
7. Singapore Airlines
8. DBS
9. Shopee
10. TikTok

Top 10 ideal employers among engineering/ natural sciences students

1. A*STAR
2. Google
3. Apple
4. ST Engineering
5. Rolls-Royce
6. Singapore Airlines
7. Pfizer
8. Dyson
9. GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)
10. Microsoft

Top 10 ideal employers among IT students

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Microsoft
4. Facebook
5. Amazon
6. Shopee
7. TikTok
8. Grab
9. Government Technology Agency
10. J.P. Morgan

Top 10 ideal employers among humanities/liberal arts/education students

1. Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)
2. Ministry of Education (MOE)
3. Google
4. Walt Disney Company
5. Apple
6. Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY)
7. Ministry of Home Affairs
8. Ministry of Health (MOH)
9. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
10. TikTok

Overall, when considering these rankings, students were noted to prefer employers who offer work-life balance the most. This was different from last year's top preferred factor: a friendly work environment. The full list of students' top preferences for the year 2022 is as follows:

1. Encouraging work-life balance
2. A friendly work environment
3. High future earnings
4. Secure employment
5. Professional training and development 

Further, the study observed a steep year-on-year increase in the salary expectations of students, reinforcing the strong salary pressures felt in both the private and public sectors over the past year. For better comparison, the average salary expectations increased by 10% to S$50,388 per annum from the previous year.

According to Universum, "it is clear that recent talent shortages have contributed to salary premiums, including among graduates, who are seeing employers competing fiercely for the best of them". 

The study also noted that the gap in salary expectations among male and female students increased this year — male students now expect 13% more than their female counterparts, compared to 10% in 2021. The gap is particularly notable, however, among business talent, where males expect around 18% more.

As a whole, although dropping a few percentage points, banking remains the clear industry of choice among Singapore's up-and-coming business talent, with 52% of male and 39% of female business graduates selecting it as a top choice. The second choice among male students is financial services and technology while female business talent ranked e-commerce as their second most preferred industry.

Image / Shutterstock

Follow us on Telegram @humanresourcesonline or click here for all the latest weekly HR and manpower news from around the region!