The top employers around the world

For many international students, the choice of where to go for university is influenced by career prospects. While getting a globally recognised degree in a top study destination is always a good thing, these can vary depending on where you go. Every country has its strengths, but it is always worth considering how they are suited to your ambitions. To get you started, we set out some of the top employers around the world for international graduates.

UK

With more than 800,000 job vacancies and a two-year post-study work visa, the UK is a great place to start your career. This holds true across industries, with world-class employers in many sectors hiring in the country.

Its biggest employer is in healthcare. The beloved National Health Service (NHS) provides free medical help of every imaginable kind across the UK, and this requires a lot of workers. At present, there are around 1.5 million in the system, doing everything from surgery to secretarial work. What's more, it is highly international. Almost 20 per cent of the workforce are not British.

The UK is also one of the world's leading financial centres. This makes it a strong option for anyone studying in a business-related field. Global banks and the Big Four accounting firms all have a strong presence in the country, with several being founded there.

These include Barclay's and PwC, which both have renowned graduate schemes. Neither require you to have a financial background, as they have a great need for knowledge in areas such as law, cybersecurity and data analytics.

STEM graduates also have an abundance of opportunities. Whether your eye is drawn to tech leaders like Google or engineering giants like Arup, you are sure to find familiar names that welcome international graduates.

This is increasingly true in renewable energy, which is one of the fastest growing job sectors in the country. Much of this is powered by companies like Siemens, who are ready to harness and grow your technical knowledge.

Explore more of the top employers in the UK.

Australia

After graduating in Australia, you could stay to work for two years – or three if you studied at research level. This is a good amount of time to explore its many top employers, and a few of its 300,000 job vacancies.

Healthcare roles are the most in-demand jobs in Australia, with the country projected to have a growing shortage of nurses in the coming years. Its already large medical sector will need to expand, and this presents great opportunities to international graduates.

Many are employed by the Australian public health system, while others enter private healthcare. There, the country is a global leader. Ramsay Health Care is one of the biggest companies of its kind worldwide.

Business graduates also find promise in Australia, as homegrown companies hold their own beside global powerhouses. Local successes include Commonwealth Bank – which employs 40,000 people nationwide – and financial services provider Macquarie. Founded in Sydney, this investment banking specialist hires graduates in human resources and marketing, as well as finance.

In the STEM fields, Australia is consistently strong. Well-known names from around the world have bases here, in addition to highly successful employers that were founded in the country.

These include the engineering-focused consultancy GHD, which works on many major infrastructure projects. Tech startup Canva is also Australian, but took its graphic design tools worldwide in the space of just a few years.

Discover even more top employers in Australia.

Canada

On a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) in Canada, you could stay and work for up to three years. The exact amount of time will depend on a few factors, but in all cases, this is a country with opportunity.

Medical graduates are just some of those who will find this. In Canada, they often enter the vast public healthcare network. This is run by a large number of organisations, including some that cover entire regions of the country. The biggest of these is Alberta Health Services, which employs more than 111,000 people. Elsewhere, you could work for Ontario's huge University Health Network.

In the world of finance and business, Canada is well-developed. The country's biggest company is the Royal Bank of Canada, which employs 70,000 people nationwide. They work across retail and corporate banking, serving 1,100 local branches and millions of international clients. Accountancy and financial analysis are just two of the areas in which the company runs graduate programmes.

Major STEM employers in Canada include Magna International and Shopify; two companies that were founded in the country. The former is a leading automobile parts manufacturer with an engineer-heavy workforce of 19,000 nationwide. The latter is a pioneer of e-commerce that underpins the online sales of businesses around the world. Remote work is standard for its teams of data scientists, marketers and designers.

Get to know more of the top employers in Canada.

USA

Through post-graduation Optional Practical Training, most international students can stay to work for 12 months in the USA. STEM graduates can do so for up to three years – and the country's top employers are keen to hire them.

Health and medicine graduates are in particularly high demand. Although America has over a million doctors, many more are needed in some parts of the country. One of their biggest employers is the nonprofit Mayo Clinic, whose 80,000 staff care for around 1.3 million patients every year. This world-renowned organisation needs both clinical and clerical expertise.

No other country can compete with the USA in the field of finance. New York is the economic capital of the world, and the likes of San Francisco and Chicago are not far behind. Almost every big name in big business hires here, including Deloitte and JPMorgan Chase. A place on the finance, software engineering or cybersecurity graduate programmes at the latter would make for an incredible start to your career.

Similarly, STEM graduates can find opportunities on an almost unrivalled scale. The USA is home to huge names including Meta, Moderna and General Motors. Clearly, the country is a place where you can reach for the stars, both metaphorically and literally. This is the home of Blue Origin, SpaceX and NASA, where you could work in both scientific and non-scientific roles.

Take a look at some more top employers in the USA.

New Zealand

Work rights for international graduates in New Zealand are some of the strongest around. Many can stay and enter employment for up to three years, with lots of great places for them to do so.

If you study medicine, you may well be able to move straight into the public healthcare system. Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) is New Zealand's biggest employer, with 80,000 staff. Many of these people are former international students who may benefit from the country's desire for health workers in the long-term. More than twenty healthcare roles appear on its Green List of in-demand jobs, making them a fast track to a Residence Visa.

Business and finance graduates also have various options. One of the most well-known is New Zealand's biggest bank, ANZ. Around 8,000 people work for the company nationwide, with many having arrived on its institutional and digital banking graduate programmes. While these are not open to international students, the equivalent schemes at competing institutions such as FNZ and the Bank of New Zealand will welcome you.

New Zealand also has a home for international STEM graduates of all kinds. Engineering consultancy Aurecon is regarded as one of the country's top graduate employers, while accounting software innovators Xero have expanded from Wellington into worldwide success in recent years.

Find out more about the top employers in New Zealand.

Ireland

The third level graduate programme allows most international students to stay in Ireland for work for up to 12 months. If you are a master's or PhD graduate, you could stay for up to 24 months. In either case, great employers will be in reach.

More than 10 per cent of Ireland's 26,000 job vacancies are in healthcare, meaning that medical graduates are in high demand. Many go on to work for the country's public health system, the Health Service Executive (HSE). In fact, this growing organisation is the biggest employer of international graduates in Ireland.

Despite its small size, Ireland is known as a key player in financial services. You will find offices of each of the Big Four accounting firms here, as well as the global headquarters of the major consultancy Accenture. The company employs 5,000 people and runs five different graduate schemes in the country.

The favourable business environment of Ireland has also enabled tech companies to flourish. Top names including Apple, Google and Meta have a base in the country, while locally built startups have also found great success. Fintech provider Stripe was founded by two Irish brothers in 2010, and is now the world's biggest company of its type. Its headquarters are split between San Francisco and Dublin.

See some of the other top employers in Ireland.

Now that you know more about the top employers around the world, you might want to explore further. Our advice on finding a graduate job, the most in-demand skills and questions to ask at a careers fair could all help. If you'd prefer to plan your studies, you can find courses now with our simple search tool.