Google is the world's most attractive employer in 2010, according to a survey of 130,000 students at top academic institutions with an education in business or engineering, collected by consulting firm Universum. The career seekers are from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the US.
Google not only retained its position for the second consecutive year, but it was first out of 50 companies in both business and engineering. The survey was first conducted in 2009. Microsoft, widely considered one of Google's biggest competitors, fell from number three in the business category to seventh place, but still remained the second most attractive engineering firm. Here are the top 10 companies in the two categories:
| Rank | Business | Engineering |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | KPMG | Microsoft |
| 3 | Ernst & Young | IBM |
| 4 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | Sony |
| 5 | Deloitte | BMW |
| 6 | Procter & Gamble | Intel |
| 7 | Microsoft | General Electric |
| 8 | The Coca-Cola Company | Siemens |
| 9 | J.P. Morgan | Procter & Gamble |
| 10 | Goldman Sachs | Apple |
Google's lead over Microsoft is particularly interesting if we remember a recent blog post from information service provider CB Insights which decided to compare the number of acquisitions the two companies made in 2010. Google has made 23, 75 percent of which are venture-financed or angel-backed. Microsoft has made zero.