Singapore millennials prefer working for multinational companies

The trend is also apparent in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Multinational corporations are still the employers of choice in the city-state, as revealed in the latest Randstad Workmonitor research report.

The trend is strongly manifested in the millennial sector, with 4 in 5 employees preferring to work for MNCs. Meanwhile, only 61% would like to work for SMEs and 60% for startups.

Looking at the 35 to 54 age group, the preference is the same. 7 in 10 employees from the said age group would want to work for MNCs whilst 63% would prefer to be in SMEs. Only 54% would want to work in a startup.

Randstad Singapore managing director Michael Smith said the report has shown that work-life balance and job security are the two key factors that have been increasing in popularity. "It’s not surprising that many employees in the region are turning towards MNCs which tend to place more emphasis on these important employer branding aspects,” noted Smith.

He furthered, “Typically we have seen that MNCs, especially in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, tend to be the dominant employers in their respective markets. They have been able to successfully leverage their global brand and reputation, along with strong resources and company culture, to attract job-seekers."

However, he noted that as these markets continue to mature, local SMEs adapt quicker to the agile work conditions increasingly desired by employees to engage and attract better talent. This is seen globally, as 64% of employees stated an overall higher preference for SMEs when compared to MNCs and startups.

"It will be interesting to see how sentiment towards working for SMEs and startups change as the regional economy recovers,” said Smith.