Foreign companies are perceived as far more attractive places to work by Indian employees.
Just two Indian firms feature in a recent ranking of the top employer brands in the country. The list, released by human resources firm Randstad yesterday (June 17), ranked companies based on salary and employee benefits, work-life balance and job security, among other things. The survey covered 32 countries and more than 200,000 respondents.
Amazon is the most attractive employer, according to Randstad. The Jeff Bezos-owned e-commerce giant scores high on financial health, utilisation of latest technologies and has built a strong reputation for itself.
Last year, the top slot was clinched by technology behemoth Microsoft while Amazon had stood second. Google India does not feature in the list as it was inducted into Randstad’s “Hall of Fame” category after clinching the top spot for three years from 2015.
“Employer branding has emerged as a crucial positioning tool for both companies seeking talent and candidates seeking organisations that can support their aspirations,” said Paul Dupuis, MD and CEO Randstad India.
For an Indian employee, the top factors while picking an employer are salary and employee benefits, job security, and a pleasant work atmosphere. The use of latest technologies and corporate social responsibilities of an employer don’t rank very high up.
Indian startups did not find a place in the list, despite some of them going all out with various employee benefits. Food aggregator Zomato, for instance, recently announced 26 weeks of paternity leave.
India has the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, but not many are keen on being employed by these new-age firms. A majority of Indians (55%) prefer to work for multi-national companies, while only 9% said they prefer to work for a startup, the Randstad survey said. Large companies outshine smaller ones on job security.
In fact, a recent survey by the pre-employment assessment firm Aspiring Minds showed that not even one in 10 India techies wanted to join a startup. These companies also struggle with attrition levels which range between 50% and 80%, according to industry estimates.
Most workers in India would like to secure a job in the IT, ITeS and telecom sector (67%) or retail, FMCG and e-commerce (67%), followed by automotive (66%) and banking and financial services (65%) companies, Randstad found.