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These are the companies that South African students most want to work for

The South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA) has published its list of the leading graduate employers for 2020.

Launched in 2010, the survey is conducted on an annual basis to help SAGEA members to review the success of their graduate campaigns and help plan their future recruitment programmes.

The research took place from March to May 2020, using an online questionnaire and 2,739 candidates responded during this time.

“Each survey participant was asked to name up to two organisations whom they felt had the best graduate programme in specific sectors or industry groups with which they were familiar,” the SAGEA said.

There were no lists of organisations to choose from and their responses were entirely unprompted, it said.

The association said that candidates were most likely to vote for specific organisations based on the programmes available, the training & development, the overall reputation of the organisation or the appeal of the brand, product or services.

Sector winners

In the accountancy sector, PwC gained more than a quarter of the votes, while ‘the Big Four’ professional services firms gained more than three-quarters of the votes within the accountancy sector.

There was a large number of votes in commercial and retail banking, with Standard Bank receiving just under a quarter of the votes, SAGEA said.

Sasol gained the most votes in both the chemical & pharmaceutical and engineering or industrial sectors.

Three organisations were the top employers in their sector for the first time this year: Amazon within IT software and hardware; Mercedes-Benz in the automotive sector; and Tiger Brands for manufacturing.

Below are the companies South African students chose as the best across every major category.

Category	Top Company	Runners-up
Accountancy	PWC	Deloitte, EY
Automotive	Mercedes	BMW, Toyota
Charity or voluntary	Gift of the Givers	United Nations, SPCA
Chemical and pharmaceutical	Sasol	Aspen, Dischem
Commercial and retail banking	Standard Bank	First National Bank, Nedbank
Consulting (IT)	Accenture	Deloitte, EY
Consulting (Management)	Bain & Company	Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company
Engineering or industrial	Sasol	Aurecon, Anglo & American
Fast-moving consumer goods	Unilever	Tiger Brands, Procter & Gamble
Health	Netcare	Discovery, Mediclinic
Insurance	Discovery	Old Mutual, Sanlam
Investment banking	Investec	Allan Gray, Rand Merchant Bank
IT hardware or software	Amazon	Microsoft, IBM
Law	Bowmans	Webber Wentzel, ENSAfrica
Manufacturing	Tiger Brands	Unilever, ABInbev
Media	Media24	SABC, Multichoice
Mining and resources	Anglo American	Sasol, Exxaro Resources
Public sector	National Treasury	Auditor General, SARS
Retail	Woolworths	Shoprite, Pick n Pay
Telecommunications	Vodacom	MTN, Telkom
Transport of logistics	Imperial Logistics	Transnet, DHL

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