randstad award 2012 identifies most attractive employers around the world.

Largest independent employer branding study

Randstad has identified 14 companies as the most attractive employers in their geography in the 2012 edition of the Randstad Award, the largest independent employer branding study in the world. The Randstad Award 2012 winners are: Newcrest Mining (Australia), Deme (Belgium), WestJet Airlines Ltd. (Canada), Eurocopter (France), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), Microsoft (India), Ferrero (Italy), Sony Corporation (Japan), Air New Zealand (New Zealand), TVN SA (Poland), Singapore Airlines (Singapore), Sony (Spain), KLM (Netherlands), and John Lewis (UK).

The Randstad Award survey is the largest independent employer branding study in the world including a total of 120,000 respondents across 14 countries. Respondents are asked which aspects they value in companies when choosing a new employer. They are then asked if they know the 150 companies selected in that specific geography and whether they would like to work for those companies. Ranking the most attractive industry sectors and the means to look for a new job are also part of the survey.

Drivers of choice

When asked which factors are most important when choosing to work for a specific company, long-term job security remains the most important factor globally (19%), followed by whether a company is financially healthy (17%), an aspect which gained significant importance compared to 2011. Other important factors are competitive salary & employee benefits (13%), interesting job content (10%) and a pleasant atmosphere in the workplace (9%). At the very low end of the scale are technology, sustainability and diversity.



Job security is indeed the most important factor when choosing an employer in Spain, UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy and New Zealand. Competitive salary on the other hand, scores very high in India and is also at the top of the list in Singapore, France and Poland. A pleasant atmosphere is valued the highest in the Netherlands. In Japan job content is by far the most important factor when selecting which company to work for.

Automotive and IT most attractive industries

Automotive/Vehicles and IT Consulting are the most attractive sectors with 44%, closely followed by FMCG (40%) and Pharmaceutical/Chemical (39%). Men tend to choose technical industries more often than women while the latter prefer the more service-oriented sectors. Media and Automotive are particularly popular among people aged 18-24 in Europe; this distinctions is less prominent in Asia Pacific and Canada.

Randstad Award survey methodology

The Randstad Award survey is based on the perceived attractiveness of companies in a specific market. 150 companies per country are selected, each with at least 1,000 employees. The number of respondents on average per market is 7,000. This is a representative sample to measure attractiveness of the 150 companies (the representative sample for 75 companies in Singapore is 4,000). Samples are based on national demographics (age, region, gender, education level) with a slight emphasis on respondents aged below 40, potential workers being the target audience of the survey. Each sample is representative on age, region and gender and includes students, employed and unemployed workforce aged between 18 and 65 years old. Respondents participate via online interviews. The interviews for the Randstad Award were conducted by ICMA between October 2011 and February 2012.