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Best Workplaces

These Are the 10 Most Attractive Employers of 2016

By
Mack Gelber
Mack Gelber
and
Monster
Monster
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Mack Gelber
Mack Gelber
and
Monster
Monster
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 29, 2016, 10:00 AM ET
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The Google Inc. company logo is seen on an Apple Inc. iPhone 4 smartphone in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012. Apple Inc. is seeking a U.S. sales ban on eight models of Samsung Electronics Co. smartphones and the extension of a preliminary ban on a tablet computer after winning a patent trial against the South Korean company. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesChris Ratcliffe — Bloomberg via Getty Images

What makes one company more attractive than another? Maybe it’s the work environment—after all, what’s a great job without great people? Maybe it’s the cool perks and benefits, or a nifty-looking office with a Ping-Pong table in the break room. Or maybe it’s a chance to work for a company that’s making sweeping innovations in its industry.

Whatever the case, employer branding firm Universum’s latest World’s Most Attractive Employers survey seeks to uncover which companies are the biggest draws for today’s job seekers. The results feature a slew of industry powerhouses, many of which are hiring on Monster right now.

The survey draws on answers from over a million job-seeking students in business and engineering/IT disciplines. This approach makes for two separate top 10s that deviate in some ways, but remain similar in others: Google led among both sets of students, for instance, while software giants Apple and Microsoft also featured in both the business and IT top 10s.

For more on best workplaces to work for, watch this video:

Among business students, leaders in the professional services and finance industries balanced out the tech companies at the top of the list. Ernst & Young took the third-place spot (after Google and Apple), followed by Goldman Sachs and PricewaterhouseCoopers. On the finance side, Goldman was the only company in the top 10 to maintain its position from the previous year’s list, suggesting it’s one of the few employers in its field to successfully leverage digital and social media and maintain a strong image among millennials.

Meanwhile, engineering and IT students gave highest marks to the biggest names in software (Sony, Samsung and IBM also made the top 10). But not every company came from the tech space—at No. 4, BMW Group was the highest of several auto manufacturers to make the cut. But with the development of self-driving cars spurring collaboration between the tech and auto industries, its inclusion makes a lot of sense (BMW plans to produce autonomous vehicles by 2021).

More from Monster:
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• 100 companies making big hires in July

This is Universum’s list of the top 10 most attractive companies according to engineering/IT students…

1. Google (GOOG)
2. Microsoft (MSFT)
3. Apple (AAPL)
4. BMW Group (BMWYY)
5. IBM (IBM)
6. General Electric (GE)
7. Intel (INTC)
8. Siemens (SMAWF)
9. Samsung
10. Sony (SNE)

…And the 10 most attractive companies according to business students:

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Ernst & Young
4. Goldman Sachs (GS)
5. PricewaterhouseCoopers
6. Deloitte
7. Microsoft
8. KPMG
9. L’Oréal Group
10. J.P. Morgan

This piece originally appeared on Monster.com.

About the Authors
By Mack Gelber
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By Monster
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