A study has revealed the most popular employers in Germany for 2021. Surprisingly, Amazon and Deutsche Bahn have risen significantly in the rankings, breaking into the top 10.

Important factors for employees when choosing a job

With the shortage of skilled workers in Germany, it is becoming more of a challenge for employers to attract qualified employees. The Trendence Institute surveyed over 25.000 professionals to find the most popular employers in Germany. The results of the study were compiled in the Trendence Professional Barometer 2021, which is available exclusively to Die Welt.

The employees who took part in the study were asked what the most important factors were to them when choosing where to work. The 10 most important factors when choosing a job are:

1. Leadership style
2. Treatment of employees
3. Friendly colleagues
4. Good scope for personal development
5. Engaging work
6. Being able to work independently
7. A good salary
8. Job security
9. A good balance between work and social life
10. Opportunities for training

The importance of job security increased significantly over the course of the coronavirus crisis in Germany. This year, 54 percent of respondents chose job security as an important factor when choosing a job, compared to 2020 when only 40 percent chose it as an important factor.

The most popular employers in Germany

Retaining its crown as the most popular employer in Germany in 2021 is BMW. In fact, the automotive industry proved to be particularly popular, with Porsche and Audi following closely behind BMW in the rankings. Overall the pharmaceutical industry also performed well, with BASF, Bayer, Roche and BioNTech all increasing in popularity this year.

Amazon and Deutsche Bahn, perhaps surprisingly, improved drastically in the rankings, with the German public transport company jumping from 55th place in 2020 to joint ninth. Amazon also featured in ninth place this year, making the jump from 40th place in 2020.

Working for IT companies has remained desirable for employees and, in a separate ranking by the Trendnace Institute, big tech companies are particularly popular within this sector. Vast international companies, including Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, top this ranking, followed by SAP and the BMW group.