WestJet most attractive employer for second year in a row: Randstad

For the second year in a row, WestJet Airlines has been named the winner of the Randstad Award as Canada's most attractive employer. More than 7,000 Canadians surveyed perceived WestJet as the company offering the most pleasant work atmosphere and interesting job content, as well as being seen as having strong management and providing good training opportunities.

"WestJet continues to epitomize the type of organization that an extremely large demographic of the Canadian workforce perceives as an exceptional employer. The company's ability to cultivate a positive employer brand continues to differentiate WestJet in the Canadian marketplace and ensures its ability to attract the type of talent that drives incredibly positive business results," said Jan Hein Bax, president of Randstad Canada

The awards reward and encourage best practices in building the best employer brands and winners are chosen by workers and jobseekers in search of employment opportunities within Canada's leading organizations. The 150 largest employers per country are selected, each with at least 1,000 employees, and the number of respondents, on average, per market, is 7,000

The top five award winners voted the most attractive companies to work for in Canada are: WestJet Airlines, Transat A.T., IBM Canada, Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney Canada International.

The survey also unveiled insights into the changing demands and priorities of workers:

Top attractiveness factors: Competitive salary and employee benefits is the top attractiveness factor when considering an employer (26 per cent), replacing long-term job security. Long-term job security (15 per cent) remained important; as did a pleasant work atmosphere (11 per cent) and good work-life balance (nine per cent).

Sectors: Jobseekers and workers see the high-tech manufacturing (44 per cent) sector as the most desirable in Canada, with respondents ranking the sector first for interesting job content, long-term job security, competitive salary and benefits, and good training. Transport and logistics (41 per cent), engineering and construction (37 per cent), raw materials (36 per cent) and finance (35.8 per cent) also ranked highly amongst the most desirable sectors to work in.

Gender: Men and women seek different things when determining what makes a workplace or organization attractive. Women continue to prefer flexible working arrangements (14 per cent more women compared to men), convenient location (10 per cent more women) and pleasant working atmosphere (nine per cent more women). Men prefer financially sound companies (21 per cent more men compared to women) with strong management (19 per cent more men) that offer career progression opportunities (nine per cent more men) and quality products and services (eight per cent more men) when seeking an employer.

Age: Younger Canadians (under the age of 40) mainly look for career progression opportunities (15 per cent above average) and flexible working arrangements (seven per cent) while older members of the workforce (40 and above) are more concerned with organizations that are financially healthy (19 per cent), offer competitive salary and employee benefits (17 per cent) and provide better accessibility (four per cent).

Education: Canadians with a higher education (university and graduate studies) are more attracted to companies that are perceived to offer more interesting job content (16 per cent above average), career progression opportunities (12 per cent), a strong image and values (11 per cent) and strong management (10 per cent), whereas those with college and post-secondary education look more organizations that offer good training (eight per cent above average), long-term job security (seven per cent) and better accessibility (six per cent).