It’s a historical moment for Apple, as it supersedes the world’s leading wireless operator – China Mobile. Seventeen-thousand young professionals carried out more than 48,000 individual company evaluations, judging them on their employer credentials and image, and have nominated the company that has been described as having an “I” for revolutionary technology – Apple.

In the business ranking, Apple takes over the top spot from China Mobile (now third) by climbing three positions, while SGCC keeps its second place. In the top 10 ranking, Chinese companies dominate – seven out of 10 employers are Chinese: Bank of China, PetroChina Company, Sinopec, CICC and Alibaba.

“The talent market for business career seekers is dominated by Chinese firms, which are perceived by talent as companies that offer secure employment, good work/life balance and a comfortable/friendlier working environment, much more so than their international recruitment competitors”, says Martin Lingner, President Asia-Pacific at Universum.

In the engineering ranking, Apple again finds the way to the top, relegating China Mobile to second place while Google holds strong at third place. Again Chinese companies seem to have an advantage, as the remaining top 10 positions are taken by six Chinese companies: SGCC, Sinopec, Baidu, PetroChina Company, ChinaTelecom and TENCENT. Yet the world’s leading software company, Microsoft, is still a worthy contender in China, obstructing others from entering the top 10.

“Engineers seem to be attracted to companies with financial strength, which offer professional training & development and good prospects for high future earnings. Career-seekers want to develop and improve their employability and prospects for a better and balanced career”, says William Wu, VP at Universum China.

Top 10 Ideal Employers—Business

1. Apple (4)
2. SGCC (2)
3. China Mobile (1)
4. Bank of China (5)
5. PetroChina Company (6)
6. Sinopec (9)
7. Google (10)
8. Procter & Gamble (3)
9. CICC (16)
10. Alibaba (13)

Top 10 Ideal Employers—Engineering

1. Apple (4)
2. China Mobile (1)
3. Google (3)
4. SGCC (2)
5. Sinopec (9)
6. Baidu (8)
7. PetroChina Company (7)
8. ChinaTelecom (5)
9. TENCENT (6)
10. Microsoft (11)*

In parentheses are the companies 2010 rankings. Click here to see the full list of China’s Top 100 Ideal Employers

Universum’s research shows three trends in China

1. Salaries are up by 14% in China

Annual salaries in China are growing fast and are well above inflation. From 57,750 CNY in 2010, participants now report an annual salary of 65,890 CNY. Engineers still earn the most, on average 69,500 CNY, followed by business professionals making 67,300 CNY and people working in the Health and Medicine sector taking home 64 000 CNY.

“The increased cost of talent reflects the high demand that qualified professionals have in China. Generation Y is ambitious when it comes to their living standard – they know they are needed in the job market, so they are not afraid to ask to be compensated for that. Companies that wish to prevail and secure their workforce without entering this salary competition need to find other ways of compensating their employees”, says Jessica Hedlund, Senior Sales Executive at Universum China

2. Traditional business companies are more attractive to China’s business professionals

Management Consulting firms, the big four professional services firms (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC) and financial organizations are becoming more attractive employers among business career-seekers. They now gain ground from engineering companies, which are still competing aggressively for the same talent pool.

“This new trend reveals that the war for talent is now conducted in a broader scale and companies are tapping into talent pools that they have not considered before. This year’s results show that business companies seem to be winning the war for talent, but in this volatile environment engineering companies might be getting ready for a quick comeback”, adds Mr. Lingner.

3. Engineering & Manufacturing companies are less attractive to China’s engineers

Although companies from the Oil & Gas industry look stable, business companies are competing for engineers at the expense of employer in the engineering and manufacturing sector.
“In a world where top performers are becoming a scarce commodity, finding the right people is critical for business success. At a time when low birth and death rates are significantly shifting world demographics, the dilemmas of the 21st century are not only ‘Who will make-up the workforce?’, yet more importantly ‘Who will own it?’. Corporations are aware of the current and future challenges of a shrinking workforce. To counteract problems in securing their talent pipeline, companies require a talent attraction and employer branding strategy”, advised Mr. Lingner.

Universum just released the 2011 Ideal Employer of China!

Based on the responses of over 58 000 students from Mainland China, UNIVERSUM just presented the 2011 data. Here are some of the major findings:

- China mobile is no longer the most attractive employer among engineering students: after leading the engineering ranking since 2008, China mobile loses its number one position to SGCC. In the business ranking, China Mobile also loses its #2 position to Procter & Gamble.

- State-owned vs international employers: The differences in employer brand image between international employers and state-owned companies are huge. State-owned companies are highly associated with secure employment and  good work/life balance, whereas international companies are highly associated with an international career, challenging and varied workas well as attractive and innovative products.

- International career: a “must have” for Chinese female students: For Chinese female students having an international career is more important than for male students. This doesn’t refer only to interacting with international colleagues and clients, Chinese female students also give more importance to opportunities for relocation abroad and international travel than male students. Male students, on the other hand, prioritize leadership opportunities much more than women.

- Almost 50% of the Chinese business and engineering students are optimistic about finding a job with their favourite employer within 6 months after graduation.

- Over 65% of the business and engineering students want to work for medium or big employers (100-1000 employees).

You can see the full rankings on the website and stay tuned: more analysis will be coming during the next weeks.

The Economist published another fantastic article, this time about how Asian firms are prefering local talent to western expats.

According to the article (and David Zweig of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) “graduates are flooding on to Asia’s job market from local universities, and Asians with degrees from Western ones are returning home. Since 2003 roughly 325,000 Chinese have returned after studying overseas—more than three times as many as in the entire two decades before”. Adding to this positive change in talent supply, companies are looking for ready-made guanxi (business and political relationships) and people committed to stay in the countries.

What does this mean for the employer branding industry?

- Companies with a strong appeal for Asian talent returning home will be winners in this war for talent

- Asian companies with low employer brand awareness will most likely fail to attract the returning Asian talent and will have to focus almost exclusively on local talent

- Western companies will have to increase their efforts to be able to attract this group. However, by having operations on the markets where Asian are currently pursuing their studies, they will have the possibility of tapping into this talent pool before anyone else

- The need to focus on diverse talent groups will force companies to have EVPs that can be adjustable to the different audiences

With the Asian markets being some of the fastest growth sales markets, my advice is straightforward: Invest in your EVP asap!

Less than a month ago, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop sent an internal memo to all employees with a dramatic analysis of Nokia’s current situation.

While yours truly is a subscriber of direct communication, in certain situations I have to wonder what’s the real impact of such a harsh message in Nokia’s employer branding internally and externally, especially if you take into account how much in Asia we don’t like to lose face.

For a long time Nokia has been Finland’s #1 ideal employer as well as one of the World’s most attractive employers. With this message I believe Mr. Elop wanted to moralize and wake-up Nokia’s employees. The question of whether this will end-up by eroding Nokia’s attractiveness will be answered soon (the 2011 Universum rankings are about to be revealed).

My perception is that it might be harmful unless it gets tied up to a challenge/reward  – young talent wants companies with innovative products/ services, that offer job security, that help them developed and allows them to have a brighter future. Under the current circumstances, I’m not sure if Nokia offers this. On the other hand – taking the challenge of bringing Nokia to what it used to be and face Apple on the market that they now own will be one of the best achievements one can ever have on their cv.

Time will tell!

Recently several companies have engaged Universum about the question of taking or not their employer branding into moving media.  My answer would be yes!

Today’s talent lives in the digital world (facebook, renren, twitter, tudou, youtube, youku …) and expects to receive information via digital channels. Any information available online can then be accessible to a wider audience than the typical communication materials / efforts. Furthermore, a video gives companies the opportunity to show the real company environment and how it is to work there. It becomes a great tool for clear communication, enabling employer brands to be better understood by the target audience – something critical to ensure you have a proper talent relationship management strategy in place.

Some companies have also been facing the complexity of adding moving media into their communication portfolio, but creating a video doesn’t need to be complicated: interview or follow an employee during a day, show the company environment and also present basic information that students want to know (i.e., career path, mentoring programs, …). Communicate what the audience wants to know – easy to do if you have access to research data. Finally, use the videos during events (career fairs, open days, company days, …) and make it available on your online channels (website, social media pages). It will help people understanding better your employer brand and your offerings – critical to ensure you attract the people with the right personality and skills.

To sum up, creating a set of employer branding videos is a must have – it’s the same as thinking that marketing could only live with print adverts or fliers… not in this decade!

Recently, during the State of the Union address, the US President asked the US for a new Sputnik moment. Mr. Obama was referring back to the moment when the late USSR managed to beat the US in launching the first satellite – an event that triggered a fast technological development from the US side.

But can the US sustain a new technological leap forward? My answer is no! Reality check: with a huge debt crisis and with only one in four youngsters going to university, there will be neither financial capacity nor human capital to deliver on this aspiration.

The technological leap forward will most likely come from China: 1) the human capital is there – 400 000 engineers being turned out every year (against 250 000 from India or 35 000 from Brazil) against the existing 1,6 million engineers working in the US; 2) the financial capacity is on the rise – a huge trade surplus making money available for R&D.

History might repeat itself… but this time, it seems that the roles have reversed – the US is in a similar situation to what the USSR was, and China is in the driver’s seat. I look forward to this new technology race – in the end, we’ll all win no matter wheter the new products / solutions are “made in China” or “made in USA”.

Business week, in a December article entitled “China Business Schools Hit Their Stride“, explains that Chinese business schools increasingly match the Western quality of education. It’s been an arduous journey, since the first business programmes in 1991, but results are now starting to show.

Although much has been done, the demand for talent is still high in China – 20,000 MBA students graduate each year, whereas 75,000 graduates are needed. Truly, the market cries out for business professionals, with international companies and Chinese employers (having operations abroad) being the neediest.

In terms of quality, schools in China succeed in two ways: 1) capture the domestic talent that once preferred to study abroad and 2) attract Western talent that is interested in knowing more about the world’s second largest economy. With this approach, allied to the networking possibilities offered by the programmes (40% international students, 60% Chinese students), China will keep talent inflowing.

Seems like the next smart thing to do is take an MBA in China…

Asia’s booming economy has created a special need for natives with Western experience
By Fred Cohn in Universum Quarterly 4/2010

The boom in Asia’s economy has created a corresponding growth in its job market. Companies are hiring not just in established business centres like Hong Kong and Singapore, but in the second- and third-tier cities that are now flourishing throughout the area. But whilst top professionals, even those without native language and cultural skills, have traditionally been able to flourish in the continent’s more cosmopolitan cities, employers in Asia now increasingly need – and demand – candidates who demonstrate cultural fluency. The situation has put a special premium on native Asians who have developed international cultural skills. Because of this, Asian expatriates – natives who are now studying or working abroad – are particularly desirable subgroup.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Christopher Van Mossevelde.

Due to a critical shortage of experienced staff, attrition is an “every-day hazard for companies operating in East Asia”, reports the FT.

In her article, “Aggressive hiring keeps the talent moving”, Elaine Moore, gives the example of RBS Coutts, which lost one third of its staff to its rival BSI.

According to her, the war for talent is not only affecting private banking and big corporations, but also small businesses where employees are known to switch jobs for minimal salary increases.

Michal Kalinowski, UNIVERSUM’s CEO, was quoted saying “In 2010, the first Chinese company entered Universum’s World’s Most Attractive Employers list (a global index of Employer attractiveness). An interesting sign of things to come is that for the first time ever there is a Chinese company in the top 50 – Lenovo at 44 among engineers”.

The report featured UNIVERSUM’s data on East Asian Students’ Career expectations and the ideal employers in Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan.

Quoting various experts in the field, however, the article’s main arguments were: 1) salary increases do not guarantee retention and 2) employers should assess cultural & motivational fit between candidate and the organisation prior to employment.

As Chinese companies continue to dominate the indexes of employer attractiveness (rankings here), it is with some dismay that I notice only a few western companies getting ready to address the challenge of talent attraction in the medium term.

Furthermore, looking at the business plans of some top western-world companies, a major growth is expected to come from BRIC; but how these companies are expecting to deliver in such big markets remains partially a mystery. What I know is that attracting talent will be a major challenge and without human capital, how are the companies going to deliver on such different markets?

Long gone are the days where being an international company represented a competitive advantage in the talent market. Nowadays, Asian talent has career expectations that they perceive only achievable in local companies. If western companies want to achieve success in Asia, the time to start building their talent pipeline is… right… now!