Employers attract Generation Y with a company market position and with opportunities for personal and professional development as well as career growth

EY LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine, 
Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Published by U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, 
Wash, D.C. Wednesday, May 21, 2014

 According to the “Best Employer amongStudents” survey that EY conducts annually in Ukraine, more than 90% ofstudents considered career growth opportunities the most influential factor in employerattractiveness in 2013. The respondents also stressed personal and professionalgrowth, salary levels, the ability to provide international experience and a solidmarket position among those factors that affect their choice of employer.Furthermore, almost 80% of students consider official labor relations as animportant criterion in choosing a potential workplace.

"Employer brand management is at the top of the agenda for companies concernedabout the sustainable development, becausea brand is a key attractor of talented graduatesand young specialists,"says Olga Gorbanovska, a Partnerand the Head of the Human Capital practice at EY, which hasprovided personnel-related services in Ukraine for more than 15 years.

More than 1,000students from over 200 Ukrainian higher educational institutions took part in the"Best Employer among Students" survey in 2013. The study defined Ukraine’sbest employers in 2013 on the basis of the general and industry-specificemployer rankings. The study also analyzed in detail employer attractiveness factors; sources of information about employers; and other mechanisms thatcan affect an employer’s brand. These latter include labor migration trends,recruitment process deficiencies and issues that compel employees to leavetheir jobs.

Best employers

According to EY’s methodology, participantsindependently indicated up to three companies they would like to work for bytheir attractiveness in descending order (no choice options were provided tothe participants). After that, participants could select preferred industriesand choose the best employers from the lists of companies suggested forselected industries.

“Respondents’ independent choices quite often significantly differ from the choices they make when they’represented with a list of proposed companies, which demonstrates the influenceof brand on an employer’s attractiveness for the potential candidates”, says Olga.

Students independently named almost 500 companiesfor which they would like to work. Productioncompanies, FMCG and IT companies were among the most frequently mentionedemployers in 2013.

Most of Ukraine’sTop 20 employers are large international companies with well-knownbrands. According to the survey, the most attractive employer brands for students are, in alphabetical order, Coca-Cola,Google, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Nestle, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble andthe Big 4 audit companies. 

Sources of information

Internetsources are the most popular sources of anemployer information among students and young specialists. Job portals are favored by more than 80% ofrespondents. Another important online source is corporate websites, which nearly65% of respondents usually check to find information about companies and the employmentopportunities they are offering.

Other aspects

More than half of the surveyed students were ready to relocate withinUkraine foremployment purposes. Almost eight out of ten students were ready to relocate abroad. Fourout of ten were ready to do so withinthe next three years.

The survey also coveredkey recruitment process deficiencies that students experience when looking forjobs. Only 21% of respondents experienced no such deficiencies while almosthalf of them encountered unclear candidate selection processes.

Most of the students also noted that they would change their jobs if they received more favorable offers. Almost half of therespondents who had left their previous jobs did so because of unsatisfactory remuneration.

About the survey

Creating a successful employer brand is crucial for the sustainable developmentof any company in a competitive environment. EY’s regular “Best Employer among Professional Candidates” and “Best Employer among Students” surveys allow for monitoring overall changes in employerattractiveness as well as key structural changes that affect the development andpromotion of that attractiveness.

EY expressesits special thanks to the rabota.ua job portal and the key universities of Ukraine for their help in collecting the questionnaires.

TheHuman Capital Group at EY Ukraineconducts research projects pertaining to employer image among employees,contractors, customers and business partners. EY also provides advisoryservices in employer brand management and other human resource functions.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisoryservices. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust andconfidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We developoutstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of ourstakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better workingworld for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY works together with companies across the CIS and assists them inrealizing their business goals. 4,800 professionals work at 20 CIS offices (inMoscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Togliatti,Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Bishkek, Baku, Kyiv,Donetsk, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Minsk).

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