A new study by Universum, a Swedish group specializing in corporate outreach, reveals what European students value when looking for an employer in certain cutting-edge fields, and which companies they would like to work for. Unsurprisingly, the most attractive employers are still the major international groups, and the one that wins all the votes is the giant Google.

This ranking is based on the responses of nearly 65,000 students surveyed in three employment fields : engineering, information technology (IT) and business/management in six countries : France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The study is divided into two parts: a comparison of the various European countries in terms of attractiveness according to choice criteria, followed by a more traditional ranking of the companies that most attract young Europeans in the three sectors. This new, more comprehensive and perhaps more subtle ranking can be read in different ways. Students were asked a number of questions, which naturally overlap or complement each other.

To the first introductory question but one that drives everything else, "Have you actively developed AI-related skills for your future career? ", the answers differ in the three areas and according to the country of study:

• for the business/management sector, students rank France 3rd at 62% (after the Netherlands and Switzerland);
• in engineering, France ranks ahead of Germany and Italy, which is not the case in the information technology (IT) sector, where it does not fare so well.

In response to the question, " Would you like to work for an employer that integrates AI into its daily working practices? ", the vast majority of students, whatever their nationality, are "optimistic and positive", between 68% and 77%, depending on the professional sector and country. Very few are "curious and neutral", and even fewer are "skeptical and pessimistic".

The next question asks what criteria are most important to future employees in the various fields. We learn (not surprisingly) that, on the whole, young people are looking for the same things.

Thus, in the business/management sector, the most important criteria are, in order of preference: career development opportunities, salary and respect for colleagues. The same is true for future engineers, while IT specialists are slightly ahead of the pack, with salary, career development opportunities and respect ranking first.

When it comes to monthly salary expectations, things are changing. Top of the league is Switzerland, where salaries are three times higher than in other countries, for both men and women. However, for all countries, the difference in salary varies between 7 and 11% depending on gender.

In the middle of the ranking, in the median position, is France, which can offer an average of 3,261 euros, whatever the sector of activity, after Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, but ahead of the United Kingdom and Italy.

Note that the "work/life balance" criterion is only cited in 4th place, and only by future IT employees.

The next natural step is to rank the most attractive employers, across all countries but by business sector:

• in business/management, the Top 5 most attractive companies include: Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company;
• the Top 5 most attractive companies in the engineering sector are Google, Siemens, Microsoft, Airbus and Mercedes-Benz Group. But virtually all automaker groups are present;
• in the IT sector, the Top 5 is made up of the industry giants : Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM and Amazon.

In short, the giant Google, which currently employs around 50,000 people worldwide, mainly in the USA, is the number one dream employer for young Europeans.

• See the Universum ranking