Google is the world's most attractive employer

Google retained its position as the most sought-after employer among the 130,000 career seekers across the globe.

Universum’s global talent attraction index "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2010" released on Tuesday showed that the Internet search giant is facing growing competition from the big four auditing firms KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte.

In the business category, 2010 has been a good year for the auditing industry, as the top four companies now take four out of the top five places in the ranking.

"We're witnessing the auditing firms and FMCG companies reconquering their talent group after a brief love-affair with the IT industry," said Michal Kalinowski, Universum's CEO. On a less positive note, the companies in the banking and investment industry, management consulting, and oil and gas, now encounter the problem of being perceived as less attractive employers.

In the engineering category, however, the IT-sector companies continue to dominate: the top three employers-Google, Microsoft, and IBM-maintain their positions from last year. The notable changes are Japan's Sony at number four and Apple's new entry. German car manufacturer BMW is still the most powerful employer brand in the automotive industry. In the top 10, where American corporations dominate, praise must also be given to Siemens for their 8th position.

“Multinational corporations are increasingly aware of the current and future challenges of a shrinking workforce. To counter problems in securing their talent pipeline requires a talent attraction and employer branding strategy," advised Michal.