Unilever Voted Sri Lanka’s Number 1 Employer of Choice for the 11th Consecutive Year 

Colombo March 15, 2023: Unilever Sri Lanka has been recognized as the No. 01 Employer of Choice among undergraduates in Sri Lanka for the 11th consecutive year. This prestigious award is a reinforcement of the unwavering commitment of the company towards developing Sri Lankan youth as purpose led, future fit leaders of tomorrow.

The Employer of Choice survey is an annual survey conducted among undergraduates from national and private universities in the country across management, science and engineering disciplines. The respondents rank companies based on their presence among youth, the career opportunities provided within the organisation, and investments made in terms of enhancing youth employability for which Unilever Sri Lanka has been consistently recognized as the go-to Employer.

Sharing her thoughts on this achievement, Ananya Sabharwal, Human Resources Director – Unilever Sri Lanka said, “We are humbled to be recognized once again as the No. 1 Employer of Choice by undergraduates in Sri Lanka. Leading research agencies are stating that Gen Zs will form 30% of the world’s population by 2030. And they are a growing power that will form the workforce of the future. We will continue evolving our youth offerings to cater to unique nuances of Gen Zs such as flexibility and inclusion whilst building their future fitness. We also want to share this esteemed recognition with our external partners including universities, youth institutions and organisations that have joined hands with us to magnify our scale of reach to purposefully empower youth across Sri Lanka.”

Commenting on the recognition, Hajar Alafifi, Chairperson and Managing Director – Unilever Sri Lanka said, “This milestone marks over a decade of our meaningful connections with Sri Lankan Youth. Our youth are our future and as a responsible corporate citizen, we are proud to have been partnering with them in innovative ways to not just build their employability skills, but also develop them as future leaders of the world. We will continue to support our youth, thereby enhancing their skills, creating impactful learning experiences and preparing them for the future of work in the hopes of building a better tomorrow.”

As part of its commitment to equip 100,000 youth with better employability skills by 2025, Unilever Sri Lanka, together with its SPARKS Student Ambassadors, recently hosted its annual Youth Forum for the ninth consecutive year themed around the topic of ‘Future of Work’ to provide nearly 400 undergraduates and graduates from 50+ universities and institutes with a holistic overview on what the future of work entails. Furthermore, the company recently signed an MoU as a ‘Strategic Partner’ with the Department of Marketing Management of the University of Kelaniya for its Marketing and Digital Marketing degree programmes, and has also partnered with CIMA, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), AIESEC Sri Lanka and Gavel clubs, to help support dynamic capability building in Sri Lankan youth.

Unilever SPARKS Student Ambassadors at the Youth Forum 2022 with Ananya Sabharwal, Unilever Sri Lanka HR Director, and Unilever Sri Lanka Employer Branding team.

Unilever Sri Lanka employees at various campus and youth engagements.

Pictured from L to R: Saumya Bandara – Senior Lecturer & Director – Centre for Brand Image Development, Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies – University of Kelaniya; Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva – Vice Chancellor, University of Kelaniya; Ananya Sabharwal – HR Director, Unilever Sri Lanka; Keshavi Puswewala – Global Employer Brand Manager for Markets and Youth, Unilever; and Professor (Dr) Ravi Dissanayake – Professor, Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies – University of Kelaniya at an MoU signing between Unilever and the Department of Marketing Management of the University of Kelaniya.

Group picture of all participants and officials at the Unilever Youth Forum 2022.