WestJet named 'most attractive employer'

Work environment, job content appealing: Randstad

WestJet Airlines has been given the 2012 Randstad Award for Canada's most attractive employer.

"With a reputation for having a great work environment and highly interesting job content, Canadians have spoken and voted WestJet as the 2012 Randstad Award winner as most attractive employer in Canada," says Jan Hein Bax, president of Randstad Canada.

More than 7,000 Canadians said the company topped two of 10 attractiveness categories, perceiving WestJet as a company that offers a pleasant work atmosphere and interesting job content. WestJet also received very high scores on training opportunities, said Randstad, provider of staffing, recruitment and HR services.

The Randstad Award aims to reward and encourage best practices in building the best employer brands, as chosen by workers and jobseekers. The top five award winners voted the most attractive companies to work for in Canada are: WestJet, ArcelorMittal, Pratt & Whitney Canada International, IBM Canada and Molson Coors Canada and Bombardier (tied for fifth place).

The full list:
1. WestJet Airlines
2. ArcelorMittal
3. Pratt & Whitney Canada International
4. IBM Canada
5. Molson Coors Canada / Bombardier
6. SNC-Lavalin Group
7. Canadian Pacific Railway
8. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
9. Transat A.T.
10. Brewers Retail
11. Suncor Energy
12. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
13. Canadian National Railway
14. Thomson
15. Air Canada
16. Kraft Canada
17. Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada
18. Magna International
19. Indigo Books & Music
20. Royal Bank of Canada
21. Cascades Boxboard Group
22. Ford Motor Company of Canada
23. Barrick Gold
24. The Toronto-Dominion Bank
25. Rio Tinto Alcan
26. Deloitte & Touche
27. PricewaterhouseCoopers
28. Research In Motion
29. Enbridge
30. Quebecor Bank of Montreal
31. National Bank of Canada
32. TELUS Communications
33. ATCO
34. The Bank of Nova Scotia
35. Precision Drilling
36. General Motors of Canada
37. Shaw Communications
38. The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada
39. Shoppers Drug Mart
40. Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec
41. Finning International
42. United Parcel Service Canada
43. Irving Oil
44. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
45. CGI Group
46. The Jim Pattison Group47. Costco Wholesale Canada
48. HSBC Bank Canada
49. Purolator Holdings
50. Rogers Communications
51. McCain Foods Group
52. Bell Canada
53. Sun Life Financial
54. Saputo
55. Great-West Lifeco
56. Manulife Financial
57. Securitas Canada
58. Northland Properties
59. Intact Financial
60. Lafarge Canada
61. Domtar
62. Shell Canada
63. Cara Operations
64. METRO
65. London Insurance Group
66. Home Depot of Canada
67. Garda World Security
68. Canadian Tire Corporation
69. London Drugs
70. Staples Canada
71. Cineplex
72. TC Transcontinental
73. Cargill
74. Loblaws
75. Best Buy Canada
76. RONA
77. Canada Safeway
78. Sears Canada
79. Overwaitea Food Group
80. Maple Leaf Foods
81. Sobeys
82. Hudson’s Bay Company
83. Winners Merchants International
84. Wal-Mart Canada
85. Kruger
86. Reitmans Canada
87. Aldo Group
88. Olymel
89. Aramark Canada
90. Gap Canada
91. The Brick Warehouse
92. Dollarama
93. Alimentation Couche-Tard
94. McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada

The survey also unveiled insights into the changing demands and priorities of the Canadian worker. Some of the key findings from the study include:

Top attractiveness factors: Long-term job security (65 per cent) is listed as the most important factor for Canadians when seeking an employer, followed by competitive salary and benefits (61 per cent), a pleasant work atmosphere (54 per cent), the financial health of the organization (45 per cent) and career progression opportunities (36 per cent).

Sectors: The engineering and construction sector (48 per cent) is the most desirable of all sectors, with respondents ranking the sector first for long-term job security and working atmosphere, followed by high-tech manufacturing (47.5 per cent). Transport and logistics (46.4 per cent), raw materials (42.6 per cent) and services (41.9 per cent) were also listed as the most desirable sectors.

Gender: Men and women seek different things when determining what makes a workplace or organization attractive. While women prefer flexible working arrangements (49 per cent more women), accessibility (28 per cent more women), pleasant working atmosphere (23 per cent more women), competitive salary (19 per cent more women) and good work-life balance (17 per cent more women), men prefer financially sound companies (42 per cent more men) with strong management (37 per cent more) that offer global career prospects (86 per cent more men) and good training (17 per cent more men) when seeking an employer.

Age: While younger Canadians (under the age of 39) mainly look for international or global career opportunities (68 per cent), career progression opportunities (36 per cent), good training (18 per cent) and (12 per cent) good work-life balance, the older Canadian workforce (39 and above) is more concerned with the quality of products or services (23 per cent), competitive salary and benefits (16 per cent), a pleasant work atmosphere (12 per cent) and location convenience (nine per cent) when choosing to work for a specific company.

Education: Canadians with a higher education (university and graduate studies) are more attracted to companies that offer international or global career opportunities (86 per cent), interesting job content (24 per cent), career progression (23 per cent) and good work-life balance (22 per cent), whereas Canadians with college and post-secondary education look more for accessibility (23 per cent), long-term job security (15 per cent) and flexible working arrangements (14 per cent).

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