New rankings say a lot about the character of tomorrow’s workforce.
A recent survey of more than 16,000 Canadian university and college students forms the basis of Canada’s Top Campus Employers rankings while also providing new insight into the career interests and aspirations of today’s students.
The Government of Canada tops the overall rankings, with provincial and municipal governments as well as Health Canada also making it in the top 10. Interestingly, three technology giants – Google, Apple, and Microsoft – were the only for-profit organizations to make the top 10 this year. Meanwhile, some non-profit organizations made a big showing in the rankings: the Hospital for Sick Children, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the David Suzuki Foundation came in sixth, ninth, and tenth respectively.
Canada’s Top Campus Employers rankings are one component of a larger report, known as the From Learning to Work Report, which is conducted annually by Brainstorm Consulting and DECODE. The rankings also feature six sub-groups that list the top 25 employers as rated by students in liberal arts, engineering, information technology, natural sciences, undergraduate business, and MBA programs.
“Although surprising to many,” notes one of the report’s co-authors, Graham Donald of Brainstorm Consulting, “the results reflect two trends among young people that have been growing stronger each year: the desire for secure employment and the opportunity to do work that makes a meaningful contribution to society.”
The report refutes many stereotypes that often portray today’s graduates as unwilling to work hard and even disloyal to employers. “Today’s graduates are willing to work hard, but they place a high priority on having greater balance in their lives than their parents did,” explains Eric Meerkamper of DECODE. “And to say that this generation is not interested in loyalty is very misleading. Certainly organizations have to adapt to successfully retain these new hires, but the kinds of changes they need to make also improve the workplace for all employees.”
In fact, students believe quite strongly in the concept of loyalty: 71% of those surveyed believe that their employer will be loyal to them if they work hard. Even more remarkable is the finding that more than half (53%) of all students would like to find one employer with which to spend their whole career.
“Employers that want to rank well with today’s students have to demonstrate that they can provide the kind of workplace that will remain attractive for the long term,” adds Mr. Donald. “In other words, the onus to create opportunities for loyalty lies with the employer. This means creating a workplace environment that satisfies students’ top four priorities: interesting work, work-life balance, good people to work with, and job security.”
The recession has had some impact on students’ career expectations: 62% indicate that the current economy makes them “worried about” their job prospects. However, the study also found students to be very confident in their abilities and three quarters (76%) believe that employers will see them as “good candidates for employment.” “Canada’s top employers are not letting the recession stop them from building a good brand image on campus,” notes Mr. Donald.
Other highlights of the rankings show that the major accounting firms – Ernst & Young, Deloitte, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers – perform very well among undergraduate business students by landing in the top 10. Canadian technology powerhouse Research In Motion (the makers of the BlackBerry) ranked in the top 10 as selected by students in 4 different majors: undergraduate business, engineering, graduate business (MBA), and information technology.
Often in the spotlight to provide leadership during this recession, the Bank of Canada performed well among business students by ranking tenth.
“Our primary goal with this research,” explains Mr. Meerkamper, “is to be able to help employers attract and hire successfully on campus. However, we have found that the research not only supports our clients’ efforts towards attracting and retaining new grads, but also creates better workplaces for all employees.”
Further details about Canada’s Top Campus Employers and the full rankings are available at www.TopCampusEmployers.ca
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