At the recent South African Graduates Employer Association (SAGEA) event, engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon – which is officially rebranding as Zutari at the end of July – was placed 2nd Best Employer of Choice, up from 4th place last year. While first place went to petrochemicals producer Sasol, Aurecon was ahead of the likes of Anglo American. Some of the other participants in the survey included Deloitte, Mercedes Benz, South32, Worley and Accenture.
The SAGEA Candidate Insights 2020 research report canvassed 2 739 candidates from 88 organisations from March to May this year. SAGEA is a Not for Profit (NFP) professional association dedicated to connecting and advancing graduate employment. It represents over 340 individuals across more than 200 organisations who are the country’s top talent management specialists.
Each survey participant was asked to name up to two organisations whom they felt had the best graduate programme in specific sectors or industry groups with which they were familiar. There were no lists of organisations to choose from and their responses were entirely unprompted.
Aurecon was acknowledged for Best Recruitment Process, as well as for Best Company Representative and Aspirational Employer of Choice. More importantly, it raised its standing as Employer of Choice in the Engineering & Industrial category from 4th place in 2019 to 2nd place in 2020.
“I am immensely proud of what we have achieved over the past year, despite the challenges and disruptions we faced due to the Covid-19 crisis,” comments Dean Naidoo, Chief People Officer at Aurecon. He paid special tribute to Modlay Davids, Emerging Talent Partner at Aurecon who represents the company at SAGEA.
Aurecon recently celebrated the achievements of Dr. Tony Igboamalu who was named Young Engineering Professional of the Year at the 2019-20 South African Professional Services Awards (SAPSA). Aurecon also clinched the title of Engineering Firm of the Year.
“The future of our business relies on the education and skills of tomorrow’s leaders,” comments Aurecon Africa CEO Dr. Gustav Rohde. “We are a firm believer in education as a driver for skills development. The successful development of young professionals will provide the next generation of leaders and technical experts who embody the values, culture and behaviour of our organisation,” adds Dr Rohde.
In October 2019, Aurecon officially announced the separation of the African business from the Aurecon Group, effective from the beginning of this year. It is undergoing a total rebranding process, with a completely new name in Zutari. The new brand will be officially launched on 21 July.
The new name reflects Afro-optimism and balances analytical and technical engineering with creativity and innovation to demonstrate that Zutari is about much more than traditional engineering.
