Australian graduates are enjoying working IT more than any other industry, a survey has found.

The Top Graduate Employers 2019 survey – conducted by the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) – ranks the best workplaces for Australians entering the workforce.

Graduates must have joined the company sometime in 2018 to be eligible.

In terms of industries, ‘IT hardware or software’ performed strongly in the survey, recording 13 companies out of the top 75, and three in the top four.

Digital media company REA Group (2) was the highest placed IT company, followed by tech consulting firm ThoughtWorks Australia (3) and online classifieds company carsales.com (4).

It was the third year in a row ThoughtWorks Australia has been in the top five, and the second year in a row REA Group has been voted number two.

Xero (11), Quantium (12), Dimension Data Australia (15), Lockheed Martin (20), IRESS (22), Saab Australia (26), NEC Australia (27), 32 (MYOB), Honeywell (61), and TechnologyOne (71) were all also in the top 75 for 2019.

Managing director of NEC Australia Mike Barber said: “To come in so highly in the AAGE rankings at 27 in just our second year entered speaks volumes, telling us that our graduates are firstly enjoying themselves here at NEC, but see a valued place for themselves in our organisation.”

The total of 13 ‘IT hardware or software’ companies in the top 75 was the most for any industry, with ‘Banking, Financial Services and Insurance’ the next closest with 10 companies.

The number one ranked organisation in the survey was WA government Department of Finance.

The anonymous survey – now in its seventh year – asks graduates to rate their employers based on the quality of work, training and development program, career progression, compensation, company culture and work/life balance.

Who’s missing?

A noticeable absentee from the list was Telstra, which last year finished in 23rd spot.

Telstra – which will this year hire around 200 graduates as part of its 12-month program – has previously placed a strong emphasis on its graduate program.

The telco’s omission from the list coincides with the announcement of its T22 strategy, which will see a net reduction of 8,000 employees by 2022, mostly in middle management.

Telstra CEO Andy Penn recently called for Australia to allow more skilled workers from overseas.

Optus was also missing from this year's list, after finishing number 32 last year.

No other telcos made the list.

Software giant Atlassian also fell out of the top 75 in the latest survey, after strong results in previous years.