Google Korea is favorite among local job seekers

Google Korea is the No. 1 foreign company that local job seekers want to work for, according to a new survey on foreign firms released Monday by online job portal Job Korea.

Respondents cited the tech company’s employee benefits and horizontal corporate culture as top reasons.

The survey involved 2,007 college students and graduates currently looking for jobs. Participants were allowed to pick up to three foreign companies they liked, and Google Korea topped the list with 70.9 percent of respondents. Apple Korea followed with 25.9 percent, Starbucks Coffee Korea with 16.9 percent, Nike Sports Korea with 14.4 percent and Yuhan-Kimberly with 14 percent.

“Work-life balance, the most significant value for young people in their 20s and 30s, is usually the top reason why they choose foreign companies over local ones,” a Job Korea representative said. “We concluded that Google gained popularity, with such a wide gap over other companies, thanks to its employee-friendly image as a leading company with a horizontal corporate culture.”

By demographics, Google was No. 1 amongst both male and female job seekers. Female job seekers in particular showed stronger preference for the IT giant than their male counterparts.

Amongst students and graduates of all majors, Google and Apple were the top two choices. For business majors, Google was the top choice, while Apple was named the best company by art and design students. Liberal arts and social science students showed great interest in Starbucks, while engineering and science majors favored Microsoft Korea, 3M Korea and Sony Korea.

In the survey, participants explained that they prefer foreign companies to local ones because of various employee benefits, horizontal corporate culture and opportunities for working abroad. Only a few survey participants picked high salary as a reason for wanting to work at a foreign company.

BY KIM JI-YOON [kim.jiyoon@joongang.co.kr]