We've been talking a lot about what Generation Y wants and how to deal with them. DECODE, Brainstorm Consulting and Universum have been finding out where they want to work and what they want from employers. 

“The competition to hire top graduates is more intense now than I’ve seen it in twenty years,” stated Graham Donald of Brainstorm Consulting, one of the  co-authors. “This Report gives us a good idea of which companies will be able to attract the best and which need to revisit their recruitment strategy.”  

In the spring of 2007, DECODE, Universum and Brainstorm Consulting conducted a survey of 23,826 Canadian students from 41colleges and universities. They asked the students about their top employers, their career aspirations, and about how key career decisions are made.

The 2007 Learning to Work Report examined many of Canada’s leading employer brands and their relative ranking as places to begin a career. Students have ranked The Government of Canada as the number one most desirable employer for the last three years running

Other highlights:  

• Google took the top spot among technology companies
• RBC Financial Group came out as the most desirable bank
• Deloitte and Ernst & Young led the accounting firms on the list
• L’Oreal and Procter and Gamble emerged as the leading Consumer Packaged Goods employer brands  

That sums up the “where they want to work.”

The study found that today's students and recent graduates are focused, informed and rational in their decision making. Tomorrow’s workforce, the authors maintain, wants to achieve a healthy balance between career and life, expects opportunities for advancement and learning, and are striving to build a secure financial base.

The study also found that students believe that finding great people to work with is almost as important as finding opportunities for advancing their careers. Today’s students also look to parents and professors for advice on career opportunities first and foremost when seeking advice.