The most favored employer tag among college students went to a company that has in recent times announced large-scale layoffs and is contemplating cutting back to perks and amenities.

What Happened: Google parent Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) took the honors as the most attractive employer across demographics, garnering 16% of the votes, a joint survey by Axios and Generation Lab between Feb. 28 and March 13 showed.

The respondents were a representative sample of 2,067 college students and recent graduates nationwide. The respondents would mostly fall under the category of Generation Z.
The Federal government came in second, with 6% of the respondents expressing a preference for it. Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) followed as these tech giants received 5%, 1.8% and 1.6% of the votes, respectively.

The equation altered slightly when college students were probed as to which companies they perceived as good. Ventura, California-based outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia was perceived as the best company. Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the company, his spouse and two adult children in Sept. 2022 pledged all the profits from the company to fight the climate crisis. The company is reportedly valued at $3 billion.

Google was ranked number two on the list of good companies.

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Some Big Tech names such as Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) did not receive even one percent of the votes.

Why It’s Important: The survey, according to Axios, was carried out with the objective of providing companies with insights into what the next-gen employees want.

Google’s attraction as an employer is the relaxed and creative work environment it provides and its innovative products. Not immune to the downturn in the tech sector, Google’s parent announced in late January that it would let go of 12,000 of its employees.

In a recent memo to employees, CFO Ruth Porat suggested that the company plans to close some cafes on days they see low traffic and cut down on fitness classes and shuttle schedules. The company also plans to provide new computers less frequently to employees.

Tesla continued to remain among the top five most preferred employers despite CEO Elon Musk's erratic and oft-criticized management style.

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