The South African Revenue Services ranks among one of the most attractive employers for tertiary education students.
Yeah, we’re a bit taken aback by that news as well but, according to survey data from 45 000 students compiled by Universum Global, the local tax collector is the most attractive employer when it comes to business and commerce.
Employer | 2018 | 2017 | Rank Difference 18-17 | ||
Percent | Rank | Percent | Rank | ||
SARS | 13.48% | 1 | 9.40% | 9 | 8 |
South African Reserve Bank | 12.14% | 2 | 10.18% | 6 | 4 |
Transnet | 11.61% | 3 | 8.42% | 11 | 8 |
Deloitte | 11.21% | 4 | 13.24% | 2 | -2 |
Investec | 11.16% | 5 | 12.27% | 4 | -1 |
For engineers Eskom and Sasol are the two most attractive employers.
Employer | 2018 | 2017 | Rank Difference 18-17 | ||
Percent | Rank | Percent | Rank | ||
Eskom | 18.73% | 1 | 14.87% | 3 | 2 |
Sasol | 18.10% | 2 | 14.90% | 2 | 0 |
Transnet | 16.26% | 3 | 14.65% | 5 | 2 |
12.82% | 4 | 17.51% | 1 | -3 | |
BMW Group | 12.53% | 5 | 10.94% | 6 | 1 |
Scientists would love to work at the CSIR.
Employer | 2018 | 2017 | Rank Difference 18-17 | ||
Percent | Rank | Percent | Rank | ||
CSIR | 18.67% | 1 | 23.35% | 1 | 0 |
DAFF | 17.89% | 2 | 17.69% | 2 | 0 |
DST | 13.04% | 3 | 12.98% | 3 | 0 |
Dept. of Health | 11.29% | 4 | 9.57% | 8 | 4 |
NHLS | 11.20% | 5 | 11.11% | 4 | -1 |
As for healthcare and health sciences, the Department of Health comes out on top by a country mile.
Employer | 2018 | 2017 | Rank Difference 18-17 | ||
Percent | Rank | Percent | Rank | ||
Dept. of Health | 42.24% | 1 | 41.09% | 1 | 0 |
Medi-Clinic Southern Africa | 31.90% | 2 | 32.97% | 2 | 0 |
Network Healthcare (Netcare) | 20.51% | 3 | 21.49% | 3 | 0 |
NHLS | 13.38% | 4 | 12.06% | 4 | 0 |
Discovery | 9.38% | 5 | 8.63% | 5 | 0 |
As we moved through the list of the top choices something becomes very apparent: folks really want to work for government.
Students studying humanities and education want to work for the Department of Higher Education and Training or SABC. Lawyers and legal students want to work for the Department of Justice and healthcare students want to work for the Department of Health.
Universum’s Winani Ndlovu offers up an explanation of why this is:
“The insights have showed that while having high awareness levels is imperative for employer brands, those levels do not always translate to desire to work for an employer. Despite the high unemployment levels talent is facing, they are reporting that being aware of an employer and their staffing needs is not enough to drive the desire to work for that employer.”
Taking a look at job postings it becomes a bit clearer as to why prospective employees want positions in government. Job listings are concise, to the point and contain all the information you might need including salary expectations among other things.
For now then other organisations should look at what local government is doing to lure graduates into their ranks. Clearly it’s doing something right.
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]