Amazon.com, Microsoft, Google and Facebook constantly compete for talent, wooing employees with lucrative stock grants, big salaries or nifty office perks like free lunches. But where’s the most desirable place to work for young professionals?

A new survey out by Universum of more than 6,700 professionals under the age of 40 found that Google — the search giant with operations in Seattle and Kirkland — remains the most desired choice.

Of the respondents, nearly 20 percent said they’d prefer to work at Google. That was followed by Apple (12 percent); Facebook (8.9 percent); and the U.S. Department of State (7.9 percent).

Amazon.com finished sixth, right behind The Walt Disney Co. and just ahead of the FBI. Microsoft finished eighth in the survey, with 5.76 percent of respondents saying that the Redmond software giant was their ideal choice.

You can see the full chart in this story in The Wall Street Journal. Other notables on the list include Electronic Arts (the new owner of PopCap Games) which ranked 15th, and Starbucks which ranked 26th.

Google’s hiring practices and office perks are somewhat legendary, and they could be seen in full force during this recent office tour of the expanded Kirkland campus conducted by employee Dan Shapiro.

Of course, that’s one perspective. Engineer Steve Yegge has some of his own feelings on what it’s like to work at Google (and Amazon for that matter) in this classic rant.