Google Tops List of 2006 Diversity Employers

As the war for top talent heats up, employers all across the world are acquiring new and revised managerial processes for developing a working environment that maximizes the potential of all employees by valuing diversity.

Diversity, including but not limited to age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, parental status and religious beliefs, is therefore very important when matching top talent with employers.

"As the workforce demographics shift, the competition to attract diverse candidates substantially increases for those companies wishing to remain competitive in the marketplace," said Camille Sautner, Diversity Employer Branding Specialist at Universum, global employer branding leader helping companies build employer brands to capture top talent.

Each year in the United States, Universum conducts a survey among undergraduate and MBA students with diverse backgrounds to determine what minority students are looking for in a future employer.

This year, in The Universum IDEAL Employer™ Survey – Diversity Edition, more than 12,800 students at 115 schools across the country ranked their top companies and their top industries and answered questions about career expectations and goals, IDEAL Employer™ characteristics, salary expectations and communication preferences.

The gold medal as IDEAL Employer™ for 2006 diversity MBA and Undergraduate students goes to Google, followed by Walt Disney, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey.

Google, thanks to its innovative, progressive, young and anticonservative culture is this year's new powerhouse all across the world; Goldman Sachs and McKinsey have always been the top players in the investment banking and management consulting industries; and Walt Disney, which prior to 2005 has always ranked highly on Universum's list - has regained a leading position thanks to its massive recruiting efforts and its strong consumer brand.

The detailed report for 2006 appears in the October 2006 First Semester edition of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, by IMDiversity Inc.