INFOBIP, A1 Croatia, and Google Croatia Named the Most Desirable Employers in the ICT Sector

Opportunities for professional development and quality interpersonal relationships are key reasons that set these employers apart as particularly desirable, according to the  First Choice Employer survey.

According to the  First Choice Employer survey, conducted in 2024 on a sample of over 34,000 respondents, Infobip, A1, and Google Croatia stood out as the most desirable employers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

The survey results reflect the desires and expectations of workers, showing which companies respondents would most like to continue their careers with if they could choose freely.

Employer of Choice 2024 - ICT

Professional development and good interpersonal relationships

To better understand what sets the most desirable employers apart from others, we asked respondents to highlight up to three key factors that, in their opinion, define an ideal employer.

The largest number of respondents (53%) cited opportunities for professional development as the most important criterion. This is followed by quality interpersonal relationships, highlighted by 45% of participants, while a good relationship between superiors and employees took third place with 38% of the votes.

In addition to these, respondents particularly emphasized the importance of work-life balance, the positive reputation of the company, and job security as additional factors of employer attractiveness.

Stay or go? Changing employers from the workers' perspective

According to the survey results, 43% of respondents who named a company from the ICT industry as their first-choice employer often think about changing jobs, which is slightly less compared to the overall sample (46%). An additional 41% occasionally consider this possibility, while 15% of respondents do not consider changing employers at all.

Interestingly, however, those who already work for their ideal employer in the ICT sector are much less likely to think about leaving. Almost half of them (47%) do not consider changing jobs at all, and only 11% often think about this option.

These findings clearly indicate that employment with a preferred employer has a strong positive impact on employee satisfaction and loyalty.

What is important to employees?

Respondents who chose companies from the ICT industry as their first-choice employer value the following benefits the most: flexible working hours, bonuses for exceptional achievements, opportunities for additional education, travel expense allowances, work-life balance, and additional vacation days.

On the other hand, benefits such as bonuses for referring new employees, company-organized weekend gatherings, and subsidies for cultural and sports activities were rated as the least important.

About the research:
The survey on first-choice employers was conducted by Alma Career Croatia via the portal portal on a sample of more than 34,000 respondents during 2024. The survey has been conducted annually for the twentieth year in a row.
It is important to note that the survey is based solely on the respondents' perception of the companies themselves and their free choice (the survey did NOT offer company names in advance). The aim of the survey was to find out which, and why, employers on the Croatian labor market are the most attractive to the general public and to highlight those that have progressed the most.
Respondents were asked to name (in order) their three first-choice employers (i.e., their 'first', 'second', and 'third' choice employers). Scoring was such that 'first' choice employers received 3 points, 'second' choice 2 points, and 'third' choice 1 point, and the overall ranking of employers was calculated based on this.