Like many European countries, Austria suffers from a shortage of skilled and qualified workers, with many companies looking for their next hire within universities.

“Although a recession is imminent, companies advertise jobs because they urgently need employees”, said Nikolai Dürhammer, Managing Director of StepStone AT & CH.

The recruitment platform released new research with around 10,000 students in Austrian universities showing what they are looking for in a company and which are the most attractive employers in the country.

An attractive starting salary is the most important criterion for Austrian students when it comes to the attractiveness of a job. And expectations are rising: students expect a salary 6 percent higher than they did in the previous year, reaching an average annual gross salary of €39,400.

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There is a big difference between women and men in Austria, though, and female students expected around 17 percent less than their fellow male students.

The top ten attributes students look for are an attractive starting salary, high income in the future, diverse work tasks, flexible working conditions, a friendly working environment, professional training and further development, promotion of work-life balance, promotion of future training, secure employment and respect for employees.

“Flexible working conditions” advanced by three places compared to the previous year, and work-from-home schemes are more important in this Austria than in Germany or Switzerland, the research showed.

What are the most attractive employers in Austria?

The study divided the most attractive employers by sector. In business, the employers students were more interested in were: Red Bull (an Austrian company), Google, Microsoft, McKinsey and Company, BMW Group, Porsche Holding, United Nations, Raiffeisen Bank International, L’Oreal Group and Audi.

For engineering and IT: Siemens, Google, Microsoft, BMW Group, Audi, Red Bull, voestalpine, Austrian train operator ÖBB, Porsche Holding, and Daimler/Mercedes-Benz.

Students in the field of natural science were interested in Pfizer, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, google, United Nations, and Microsoft.

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In the field of social science, the leading companies were Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Nations, Caritas, SOS Children’s Village, Google, Red Bull, Österreich Werbung, Bundesverwaltung and IKEA.

The most attractive employers in the field of law: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bundesverwaltung, United Nations, Red Bull, Google, ORF, Raiffeisen Bank International, Porsche Holding, Österreichische Nationalbank, and McKinsey & Company.

Finally, in the field of medicine and health, the companies are Pfizer, KAGes, Johnson & Johnson, IKRK, Bayer, Novartis, Roche, United Nations, VAMED, and Caritas.