Many financial professionals would gladly give up banking or the buy-side to work for Google, Apple or Facebook.
The three technology titans all make the top 20 in the eFinancialCareers Ideal Employer Rankings, which surveyed more than 6,500 people working in financial services globally about the companies they aspire to work for.
Google claimed third spot – beating big-name banks like Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse – while Apple and Facebook placed 16th and 19th respectively. Microsoft, Amazon and IBM were the other highly-rated tech companies, although they finished outside the overall top 20.
But why, exactly, do any tech firms appear on a ranking which polled financial professionals? In broad terms, it’s because people think they offer a working environment and company culture that financial services organisations struggle to match, according to our survey, which also asked respondents to name the perceived strengths of their ideal employer.
Of the people who voted for Google and Facebook, 86% and 85% respectively believe their ‘office environment’ is a key strength – higher percentages than for any other company in our top 20. Goldman Sachs, the first-ranked firm overall, only clocked 43% in this category. Similarly, the three tech firms take the honours when it comes to having a ‘positive culture’. Voters for Google gave it an 80% mark here, considerably better than any non-tech employer.
Some of this positive sentiment could be explained by the perpetual buzz surrounding hip workplaces in the tech sector. If you left a staid bank on Wall Street for Google’s Chelsea office, you’d be hanging out in a conference room mimicking a New York apartment and a two-storied lounge connected by staff slides.
However, the culture at Google, Apple and Facebook is attractive to financial professionals in less frivolous ways. The vast majority of their voters believe they offer ‘interesting and challenging work’, for example.
Also key to the appeal of the tech giants is their reputation as cutting-edge companies. In the category ‘innovator in the industry’ no financial services employer came close to Google, Apple or Facebook. They also scored well for being ‘leaders’ in their industry. Apple, in particular, is thought of as being a strong employer because of its ‘financial performance’ (83%) and ‘executive leadership’ (74%).
Financial professionals are unlikely to leave their finance jobs to seek more money in the technology sector. Google, Apple and Facebook are rated as reasonable, but not overly generous, paymasters.
By contrast, their employee benefits are perceived to be much better than those offered by financial organisations. Facebook, renowned for its plentiful parental leave and staff charity-donation credits, wins the ‘benefits’ category with 80% of its voters rating it highly.
Despite stories of employees camping out at its offices overnight, Google (62%) ranks well for ‘manageable working hours’, as does Facebook (59%). These numbers don’t appear impressive until you compare them to those of the banks – Goldman Sachs scores just 13%.
Financial professionals also believe that joining a tech firm will afford them more opportunities to work from home. Google (80%) and Facebook (76%) are clear leaders in ‘flexible working options’. The best non-tech company, PwC, can only muster 56%.
Source : Efinancialcareers.com
