Graduate employers of choice for 2020

The South African students have spoken. Graduates have declared loud and clear who they consider to be the leading graduate employers for 2020. This list can be found in South African Graduate Employers Association’s (SAGEA) most recent SAGEA Employer Awards.

The SAGEA Employer Awards,which was founded in 2010, are determined by successful job hunters, who have received confirmed job offers from graduate employers.

The research was conducted research specialists, High Fliers Research Ltd from March to May 2020. During this period, 2,739 respondents were surveyed using an online questionnaire.

How was the research conducted?

To determine which organisations have the best graduate programmes, the respondents were asked to list the two companies that they believed had the best graduate programme.

The candidates were required to only provide answers for the sectors or industries that they were familiar with, and their responses were unprompted, with no list provided from which to choose answers.

The report notes that “Candidates were most likely to vote for specific organisations based on the programmes available, the training & development, the overall reputation of the organisation or the appeal of the brand, product or services.”

The basis of The Graduate Employers of Choice 2020report was then formed using the leading employer and two runners-up across 21 separate sectors.

Sector winners emerge

The graduates awarded PwC more than a quarter of the votes in the accountancy sector. Here, between them, the Big Four (PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG) gained more than three-quarters of all of the votes cast.

The commercial and retail banking sector saw a large number of votes, with Standard Bank receiving just under a quarter of them. First National Bank and Nedbank followed.

In the quick-paced world of Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Unilever beat out Tiger Brands as well as Proctor and Gamble, as being the graduate employers of choice.

Aspirational Employer of Choice for 2020

When asked to name the one organisation they most aspired to work for, regardless of their current skill-set, degree, qualifications or job offer, PwC was once again the Aspirational Employer of Choice for 2020, followed by EY, Deloitte, Google and Investec Bank.

Below are the companies within the various sectors as selected by the respondents.

Source: SAGEA