Lockheed Martin's booth at Association of the United States Army, or AUSA, Global Force Symposium & Exposition
20.6% of engineering students named Lockheed Martin as one of their ideal employers.
  • Universum, an employer branding agency, released its ranking of which places engineering students most hope to work for.
  • Students were asked to select their five ideal employers, but they could choose less than that.
  • 20.6% of them said Lockheed Martin, and 20.2% said SpaceX, putting these companies at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the new ranking.

A lot of engineering students are dreaming of working at companies in the aerospace and defense industry, such as Lockheed Martin.

Universum, an employer branding agency, publishes a list of where students wish to work. Students from different universities were asked to "choose the five employers you most want to work for," or what the agency considers their "ideal employers." The survey period for the US survey was from September 2022 to March 2023, which included this question and others. 

According to this year's results, 20.6% of engineering students said Lockheed Martin is one of the places they most want to work for. With the highest share of students saying that, that put the employer at the No. 1 spot for the engineering ranking. It moved up three spots, after 17.4% of engineering students chose it as an ideal employer for themselves last year.

According to how Universum classified employers, three places in the aerospace and defense industry ranked as the top three this year, based on the share of engineering students who named it as a place they most want to work for.

Apple, General Motors, Toyota, and the Department of Defense were all part of this year's top 20 and all didn't move from their rank last year. Meanwhile, some companies did move down while others moved up. Among the top 20, Mercedes-Benz Group moved up the most, soaring from No. 44 to No. 20. Roughly 5% of engineering students view it as one of their ideal employers.

Below are the top 20 on the engineering student list. We included below the industries for each employer, as noted by Universum. The percentages below are of the share of engineering students who named that employer as an one of their ideal places to work.

20. Mercedes-Benz Group: 4.70% of engineering students
Mercedes-Benz

Rank in 2022: 44

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 24

Industry: Automotive

19. Amazon: 4.99% of engineering students
An Amazon driver loads packages into a delivery van

Rank in 2022: 16

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 3

Industry: E-commerce

18. Lego: 5.08% of engineering students
People shopping at a Lego store

Rank in 2022: 21

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 3

Industry: Retail

17. Department of Defense: 5.68% of engineering students
US Department of Defense logo

Rank in 2022: 17

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: No change

Industry: Military/policing/security

16. GE - General Electric: 6.11% of engineering students
General Electric

Rank in 2022: 18

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 2

Industry: Manufacturing

15. Intel: 6.25% of engineering students
Intel logo

Rank in 2022: 20

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 5

Industry: Computer hardware

14. Ford Motor Company: 6.36% of engineering students
Ford cars

Rank in 2022: 13

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 1

Industry: Automotive

13. Boston Dynamics: 6.73% of engineering students
Boston Dynamics Hyundai robot dog

Rank in 2022: 15

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 2

Industry: Manufacturing

12. Toyota: 6.97% of engineering students
Toyota cars

Rank in 2022: 12

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: No change

Industry: Automotive

11. General Motors: 7.20% of engineering students
General Motors logo

Rank in 2022: 11

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: No change

Industry: Automotive

10. Microsoft: 7.47% of engineering students
Microsoft

Rank in 2022: 8

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 2

Industry: Computer software and technology

9. Raytheon Technologies: 8.66% of engineering students
Raytheon Technologies

Rank in 2022: 10

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 1

Industry: Aerospace and defense

8. Google: 9.63% of engineering students
People walking at Google

Rank in 2022: 7

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 1

Industry: Internet content and information

7. Northrop Grumman: 9.74% of engineering students
The B-21 Raider is unveiled during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman's Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, December 2, 2022

Rank in 2022: 9

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 2

Industry: Aerospace and defense

6. Apple: 10.71% of engineering students
Apple laptop computers on display in an Apple store

Rank in 2022: 6

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: No change

Industry: Consumer electronics and household appliances

5. Tesla: 14.24% of engineering students
Tesla vehicle

Rank in 2022: 2

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 3

Industry: Automotive

4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): 15.78% of engineering students
NASA

Rank in 2022: 3

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 1

Industry: Public sector and governmental agencies

3. Boeing: 16.67% of engineering students
Boeing

Rank in 2022: 5

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 2

Industry: Aerospace and defense

2. SpaceX: 20.20% of engineering students
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off

Rank in 2022: 1

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Down 1

Industry: Aerospace and defense

1. Lockheed Martin: 20.60% of engineering students
Lockheed Martin's booth at Association of the United States Army, or AUSA, Global Force Symposium & Exposition
20.6% of engineering students named Lockheed Martin as one of their ideal employers.

Rank in 2022: 4

Change in rank, 2022 to 2023: Up 3

Industry: Aerospace and defense

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