Technology giant Microsoft India has emerged as the country's most attractive employer brand, followed by Samsung India and Amazon India in the second and third place, respectively, says a survey. According to Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2020, Microsoft India scored high on financial health, strong reputation and utilisation of the latest technologies.

The REBR revealed that in 2020, work-life balance emerged as the top Employee Value Proposition (EVP) driver for the Indian workforce while choosing an employer as it was cited by 43 percent respondents, followed by attractive salary and employee benefits (41 percent) and job security (40 percent).

The REBR sought views of over 1,85,000 respondents (general public, aged 18-65) on 6,136 companies in 33 countries. "Employer branding is an evolving journey based on newer and deeper insights that unravel with time, so organisations must make this a strategic business agenda," Randstad India MD and CEO Paul Dupuis said.

Dupuis further noted that "this process has become increasingly important since the onset of COVID-19, when the job market is undergoing a paradigm shift and the need for organisations to transform their employer branding proposition to make it more "humane" in the new world of work becomes even more critical".

Others in the top 10 most-attractive employer brands in India for 2020 include Infosys Technologies at the fourth place, Mercedes-Benz (5th), Sony (6th), IBM (7th), Dell Technologies Ltd (8th), ITC Group (9th) and Tata Consultancy Services (10th).

The survey further said 69 percent of respondents indicated that they stayed with their employer in the past year and 81 percent agreed that non-monetary benefits like company phone/car, childcare services and support, flexible working hours are equally important when choosing an employer.

As per the survey, 38 percent of Gen Z (18-24 years) are looking for good training opportunities from their employer, while 34 percent of the millennials (25-34 years) are attracted to forward-thinking and tech-savvy organisations and deem the use of latest technologies as a very important attribute.

Around 46 percent of Gen X (35-54 years) find good work-life balance a very important pull-factor towards an employer, whereas 32 percent of the boomers (55-64 years) find a convenient location as the key factor.

The survey noted that the Indian workforce prefers to work for companies operating in sectors like IT, ITeS & telecom, automotive, followed by FMCG, retail & e-commerce and BFSI.