Tech companies are preferred employers in Singapore

Source: CareerBuilder Singapore. The attributes of an Employer of Choice.

Half of the top 10 employers listed in the private-sector Employers of Choice category in the Employer of Choice Survey* 2017 by CareerBuilder Singapore were tech companies.

For three consecutive years, tech giant Google has been chosen as the most preferred Employer of Choice in the private sector. Apple was ranked No. 2, with Microsoft at No. 6, Facebook at No. 8 and Airbnb at No. 9.

In the public sector, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) was the only tech-related agency to make it to the top 10 list of Employers of Choice but came in at No. 8. This was an improvement over its 19th place in 2016.

For small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), Garena Online and Ademco (Far East) were the only two tech-linked companies. Garena is known for esports and Ademco provides security solutions.

While employees generally prefer working in the public sector over the private sector, the survey found a growing trend for startups - which are typically tech-related today - to be seen as highly attractive employers. In 2017, Carousell ranked No. 1 as startup Employer of Choice, followed by Redmart, Uber, Honestbee and Ninja Van. Five startups were listed in the top 10 list for the first time - Uber, Honestbee, Shopback, Chope and Paktor.

The survey this year showed close to 59% (an almost 10% rise compared to last year) in those stating that they would be interested and willing to work in a startup. The top reasons cited were that startups provide “lots of learning opportunities” (84.8%), opportunities to work closely with a group of passionate and enthusiastic colleagues” (66.4%), along with an “exposure to a wide spectrum of job roles” that employees might not necessarily be exposed to in larger or more established companies.

The survey also found that employees prefer to seek jobs online, as opposed to the traditional newspaper classified advertisements.

Source: CareerBuilder Singapore. The number of respondents willing to work in a startup, while sizeable in 2016, has grown significantly in 2017.

Online job portals (45.5%) were the most commonly used channel, followed by ads, banners, emails, features and news on the Internet (33.5%), connections through family and friends (26.7%), and social media (25.3%).

“The Employer of Choice Survey 2017 results offer interesting insights to how any company, big or small, can stand out, draw and retain talent. Contrary to the common belief that job-seekers only want money, SMEs and startups too can have a fair chance at securing good employees with an informed understanding of what matters most to job-seekers,” said Sam Ng, MD, CareerBuilder Singapore.

*The Employer of Choice Survey 2017 was conducted between May to September 2017 among close to 3,000 working adults as well as tertiary undergraduates, aged 16 years and above.