Our previous two articles provided you with highlights from the 2019 SAGEA Employer Benchmark and Candidate Insights studies, respectively. A key aspect of our Candidate Insights study is to ask recent graduates to vote for the one employer who they would most like to work for – and, based on their feedback we are able to compile a hotly-contested ranking of Aspirational Employers of Choice. The top three graduate Employers of Choice are recognized via an award at our Biennial Awards ceremony. Winners and runners up receive a SAGEA Employer of Choice badge which has become synonymous with students, graduates and employers as the benchmark of excellence in graduate employment.
The SAGEA Employer of Choice Badge
The top three Aspirational Employers of Choice in 2019 were as follows:
- PwC
- Investec Bank
To find out who the Top 50 Aspirational Employers of Choice for 2019 are, please click here.
GRADUATE EMPLOYERS OF CHOICE 2019
Our Candidate study also asks recent graduates to name up to two organisations that they think have the best graduate programme in particular sectors. Their responses are unprompted, and they are not provided with a list of employers from which to choose. In other words, the employers they select as the graduate employers of choice in each sector are top-of-mind for this group of over 2000 top graduates who participated in the study.
A question you may well ask is, “what makes an employer of choice?” When selecting graduate employers of choice, this is what talented young graduates regard as important:
- 71% of survey participants indicated that they selected their Employer of Choice based on the overall reputation of the organisation.
- Around two thirds are influenced by the appeal of an employer’s product, brand or services, closely followed by the quality of training and development offered by the employer.
- Working for a multinational organization is important to around half of our survey participants and just more than a third are influenced by the starting salaries on offer when selecting their Employer of Choice.
The 2019 Graduate Employers of Choice, by Sector are as follows:
SAGEA extends congratulations to all our winners and runners up – we applaud their commitment to investing in and developing young talent and encourage them to continue striving for excellence in graduate employment.
To read our press release on the SAGEA Employer Awards 2019, please click here.