Young Filipino talent say professional training and development is their top career priority upon graduation

Gap in pay expectations between genders surges by 8%

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Universum, a global leader in talent research and employer branding, launches the findings from the Philippines portion of its annual global talent survey. The research sets out to track the career aspirations and preferences of the Philippines' young professional talent. This year, over 9600 students from 53 universities participated in the survey that was held between November 2021 and September 2022. 

Ethical standards overtake good reference for future career

This year, the top five employer attributes that are most appealing to students are "professional training and development", "respect for its people", "a friendly work environment", "high future earnings", and "ethical standards" in descending order of importance. Their responses also reveal that the Philippines' future talent pool holds similar sentiments as their peers in other APAC markets.  The survey shows attributes such as "flexible working conditions" and "encouraging work-life balance" are strongly trending upwards.  

When asked about their interest in remote work opportunities, 83% of students said they are open to working remotely. However, they have their concerns about this increasingly common and attractive arrangement. Top among these concerns are home internet speeds and reliability.

Mike Parsons, managing director APAC for Universum, said, "Despite the negative economic outlook, hiring is, paradoxically, getting harder in many segments, especially tech talent. Employers cannot sit back and hope these talents become available, as they won't. To hire the best, employers need to understand what talent wants "in an ideal world" and what they are prepared to trade off in order to land their ideal role at their ideal employer. Never has it been more important for employers to communicate their value proposition to talent skilfully and consistently".

Male students expect 13% more salary than female students

For 2022, the gap in salary expectations between genders has increased by 8 percentage points. It is also the first time the salary disparity between males and females has entered two-digit since 2020.

Expected annual salary over the years:

Other highlights in the study shows that university students in the Philippines expect an average annual salary of 495 966 PHP, which is a modest 1% higher compared to last year. In terms of disciplines, the annual salary expectation from engineering students upon graduation is the highest, at 568 202 PHP, while business students expect a yearly salary of 483 520 PHP and IT students expect 517 355 PHP.

Download a full-length copy of the Philippines' Most Attractive Employers report: https://universumglobal.com/rankings/philippines/

About Universum

Universum is a data-driven, insight-led employer branding agency. Founded in Stockholm, we are now active in over 60 countries, with key hubs in Paris, Berlin, London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai.