Top 20 most attractive employers in Malaysia: Ranking

Once again, oil and gas company, PETRONAS, has taken the top spot as the most attractive employer in Malaysia.

This was according to Randstad's 2019 Employer Brand Research which surveyed 2,504 Malaysian-based employees and examined 75 of the largest commercial companies to work for across 11 sectors. Other homegrown brands that were ranked in the top 10 most attractive employers are AirAsia (6th), and Sime Darby (9th).

The top 20 most attractive employers in Malaysia are:

1. PETRONAS
2. Shell Malaysia
3. Nestlé Malaysia
4. Intel Malaysia
5. Samsung
6. AirAsia
7. IBM
8. Huawei Technologies Malaysia
9. Sime Darby
10. Sony EMCS
11. Dell Malaysia
12. B.Braun Medical Industries
13. Maybank
14. Malaysia Airlines
15. General Electric Malaysia
16. Sunway
17. Tenaga Nasional
18. Genting
19. Malaysia Airports Holdings
20. Celcom Axiata

The research also looked at the top employee value propositions Malaysia-based employees looked at, the most attractive sectors, as well as key motivators across each generation.

When choosing an ideal employer, 64% of Malaysia-based employees looked at salary & benefits. Other important factors include work-life balance (49%), strong management (44%), career progression (41%), and a pleasant atmosphere (39%).

The three most attractive sectors to employees were energy & utilities, information communication & technology, and transportation & logistics.

Money is king when it comes to the key motivators across generations with all three generations ranking attractive salary & benefits as one of the top three reasons to stay with their employers.

Gen Zers stay for good training (44%), attractive salary & benefits (43%), and career progression opportunities (41%). They leave due to low compensation (36%), limited career path (35%), and financial instability of the organisation (35%).

Similarly, Millennials stay because of attractive salary & benefits (54%), healthy work-life balance (45%), and career progression opportunities (37%). Top three reasons this generation leave their employers were a limited career path (45%), low compensation (33%), and work-life balance issues (32%).

Lastly, Gen Xers placed the most priority on attractive salary & benefits at 60%, followed by healthy work-life balance (47%), and good financial health (43%). While reasons for leaving include a limited career path (43%), low compensation (36%), and financial instability of the organisation (32%).

The research also found a clear disconnect between employees' expectations and what companies are known to be offering.

Among 10 expectations, employees rank 'healthy work-life balance' as their second top expectation of their ideal employers. However, the aspect was second last when it comes to what companies in Malaysia are perceived to offer.

At the same time, employees rank 'use of latest technologies' as their second last expectation of their ideal employers, but it was ranked highly (2nd) when it comes to what companies in Malaysia are perceived to offer.

Other findings from the employer brand research include:

• 21% of Malaysia-based employees changed jobs in 2018.
• 38% planed to change employers in 2019.
• Organisations that excel in customer experience have 1.5 times more engaged employees than organisations that don't.
• Happy employees are 31% more productive than unhappy ones, resulting in 37% higher sales.
•  People who are committed have reported 60% lower absenteeism and are 75% less likely to change their employers.

Photo / iStock