UK's best employer brands

LinkedIn has compiled a list of the UK’s most desirable employers. The professional social network surveyed its 19m UK members to find the 20 ‘Most InDemand Employers’.

Google is the most in-demand employer overall for the fourth year in a row and John Lewis is the top-ranking UK-based employer. Apple has moved up to second place.

In the last 12 months, Amazon, British Airways, Goldman Sachs and Rolls-Royce have all dropped out of the top 20. Seven new entrants are; Selfridges, Facebook, The Walt Disney Company, Net-A-Porter, Topshop, Diageo and McKinsey. LinkedIn announced the 2015 list at its Talent Connect event in London.

Yvette Bloxham-Smith, head of resourcing at John Lewis, says, “Our Partners are co-owners in our business, this makes it especially important that we find the right people for our unique culture and environment. To attract and select talent, we leverage our employer brand alongside a robust recruitment and selection approach to identify the best candidates to become partners.”

The majority of the world’s most in-demand employers are companies with a considered employer brand strategy. Chris Brown, director at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, says, “This list represents the organisations that have most successfully built their employer brand and who use this to engage great potential candidates online. They have identified what makes them special, what they can offer their employees, and have taken full advantage of digital and social media to bring this to life.”

Brown says that, for a successful employer brand strategy, “You have to clearly communicate what makes you special, and what you can offer employees, to help people understand what life inside the business is like. It takes time, effort, and investment.” 

Research conducted by LinkedIn earlier in the year found that UK companies with poor reputations as employers face higher wage bills and a smaller pool of candidates to choose from when hiring.