This year the Municipality of Amsterdam came 33rd in the listing of top 50 popular employers. Last year Amsterdam only achieved 55th position.

This finding is the result of the annual Intermediar image research among academic graduates. Amsterdam is the only municipality on the list; for many years now the top five positions on the list have been dominated by Philips, Shell, ABN Amro, Rabo and Unilever.

The study measures how people perceive the company, not the actual corporate culture. The interviewed people indicate whether they feel that Amsterdam ‘has challenging jobs’ and ‘career opportunities’.

A municipal spokesperson said that the improved image is the result of ongoing investments in the capital’s image as employer. In spite of the unemployment the city remains active by organising career fairs, traineeships and placing job adverts in newspapers.