Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz and Amazon named India’s most attractive employer brands: Survey

Microsoft India scored very high on financial health, strong reputation and attractive salary & benefits – the top 3 Employee Value Proposition (EVP) drivers for the organization, as per the survey.

Mercedes Benz India climbed up rankings this year to emerge as the first runner-up, followed by Amazon India, the e-commerce giant.

Randstad India’s annual employer branding research has revealed how the post-pandemic world of work has radically changed employee sentiments across sectors.

The REBR report has been providing valuable insights to help employers shape their employer brand for over 22 successful years globally and it is the 12th edition in India this year.

The research, covering more than 70% of the global economy with 31 participating countries and close to 1.63 lakhs respondents worldwide this year, clearly revealed that 9 out of 10 Indian employees (88%) consider training and personal career growth very important to them when compared to the average of APAC (76%) employees.

Reflecting similar trends, the report also shows that, for 2 out of 3 Indians (66%) the meaning and purpose of work and career became more important in 2021 when considering world developments.

Women feel more strongly about this than men (72% vs. 62%), as do the higher-educated (70%) and 25–34-year-old (72%) employees.

Additionally, this year too, the Indian workforce considers work-life balance (63%) as the most important driver when choosing an employer. This trend is even more so for higher-educated (66%) and 35+ year old employees (66%).

This is followed by an attractive salary and benefits (60%) and a good reputation of the organization (60%).

The survey also revealed that 66% of white collar employees consider work-life balance as the most important driver, whereas 54% of blue collar workers consider reputation and financial health as the most important attributes for an employer, leaving both work-life balance and even salary & benefits trailing behind.

Trends in Remote Working:

Interestingly, remote working in India has decreased from 84% in 2021 to 73% in 2022.

The survey also reveals that remote working as a trend is more prevalent among women than men (76% vs 69%).

There are significantly far more remote workers in India compared to the average across the APAC region (42%).

Additionally, a whopping majority (98%) of the current remote workers believe that they will continue doing so in the future, although not to the degree that they are doing right now.

Job switching behaviour & fear of job loss in focus:

24% of employees in India switched their employer in the last half of 2021. Additionally, about 1 in 3 employees (37%) intend to change their employer in the first 6 months of 2022. 51% of the employees who are afraid of losing their job, plan to change their job in the first half of 2022.

Top 10 most attractive employer brands in India for 2022:

1.       Microsoft

2.       Mercedes-Benz

3.       Amazon

4.       Hewlett Packard

5.       Infosys

6.       Wipro

7.       Tata Consultancy Services

8.       Tata Steel

9.       Tata Power Company

10.   Samsung

Presenting the REBR 2022 survey insights, Viswanath P.S, MD & CEO, Randstad India said personal career growth has gained prominence with 88% of employees making it a priority for choosing their employers.

It is interesting to note that Indian workers are more driven to succeed in their careers compared to employees in the rest of APAC.

Much of this shift can be attributed to gold standard learning opportunities offered by Indian employers and the flexibility to adapt to the continuously evolving needs of the workforce across sectors, he said.

REBR findings also highlight that most parameters for an attractive employer brand remain the same for both male and female employees, however, women employees now have a heightened focus on flexible working, healthcare benefits, and corporate social responsibility along with career progression.

"As people work for cultures and not companies, their perception of you as an employer is of paramount importance and I am sure this insightful report from Randstad will add a lot of value to India Inc.’s talent management decisions”, he added.

Other key findings from REBR 2022:

An interesting trend that came forth in the survey was the importance of reskilling and upskilling, mostly driven by the pandemic and the demand for new skills among the workforce.

A vast majority of employees (89%) consider it important to be offered the opportunity to be reskilled and/or upskilled, and this trend is predominant in the age group of 25-34 years (90%) and for higher-educated employees (93%).

The good news for employers is that 85% of survey respondents mentioned that they were very likely to stay in the organization if their employer offers adequate opportunities for reskilling/upskilling.

Actions to improve work-life balance:

While work-life balance scored highest in EVPs, employees have taken steps to ensure it for themselves. 46% of employees worked in flexible time slots, 44% worked more remotely, whereas 23% renegotiated their current roles to improve work-life balance.

Top 4 sectors in India by awareness and attractiveness:

The survey also highlights that the Indian workforce prefers to work for companies operating in sectors like IT, ITeS & Telecom (1), FMCG, Retail & E-commerce (2), followed by Automotive (3), and BFSI (4).