KUALA LUMPUR: Regional banking group Maybank has emerged as the most popular employer among university students and graduates in Malaysia based on the latest Malaysia's 100 Leading Graduate Employer survey.
Feted at the Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers Awards Night 2016 recently held in Kuala Lumpur, Maybank was followed closely by first runner-up audit and assurance and tax and consulting services provider PwC and second runner-up oil and gas company Petronas.
According to organiser GTI Media Sdn Bhd, the Malaysia’s 100 ranking was formed by responses from 27,992 respondents from various universities across the country from the start of the year up till September.
Through what is termed as the Malaysia Graduate Barometer, respondents selected from a list of over 200 employers career sectors that most interest them, before they considered and selected the employers of their choice. They also provided information on factors of employment attractiveness such as expected income for first jobs, desired working hours, preferred region for relocation and important employer characteristics.
"As an independent body of research, the Malaysia Graduate Barometer works by helping employers stay up-to-date on the shift in expectations of students and graduates, which vary from year to year. By collecting valuable feedback directly from these future employees, the survey helps employers pinpoints the hottest graduate recruitment trends for the year," said GTI Media managing director Isaac Hee.
Among the key findings of the 2016 survey is that the most important factors named by graduates when choosing an employer are training and development, career prospects and leadership style. The least important factors, meanwhile, are a high starting salary, status and prestige and an attractive location.
Respondents are prepared to spend 3.8 years in their first job and expect a salary of RM2,827 in their first professional position, a decrease from last year's RM2,999.
Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh who graced the occasion said the Malaysia's 100 Leading Graduate Employer survey is a commendable initiative that would help universities and the industry be on the same page on the issue of graduate employability.
"We are looking at collaboration between the industry and the academia to make sure universities have the right curriculum that would equip graduates for the working world. We want to develop students that are holistic," he said.
Maybank group chief human capital officer Nora A Manaf said the company is greatly honoured to be selected top choice employer among graduates.
"We will continue to put in more effort in creating innovative programmes in place to groom our recruits in our management trainee and graduate programmes," she said.
With roots in the UK, the Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers survey is the largest and longest-running graduate careers survey in Malaysia, with the 2016 Awards Night being the 9th edition of the event.