Creating Opportunity for Generation Next: This Year's "Canada's Top Employers for Young People" are Announced

TORONTO, April 28, 2014 /CNW/ - Successful organizations are paying more attention to the needs and aspirations of their youngest employees - that's the key finding from this year's "Canada's Top Employers for Young People" competition, announced this morning.

"Innovation and adaptability don't exist in a vacuum," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which oversees the competition.  "Employers that make it easier for young people to thrive in their careers, it turns out, also make their organizational DNA more resilient and able to adapt faster to change."

Now in its 12^th year, "Canada's Top Employers for Young People" is an editorial project that recognizes the nation's leaders when it comes to attracting and retaining younger workers.  The competition reviews a wide variety of initiatives, from mentorship to training and advancement opportunities, important to younger Canadians starting their first careers.  A dedicated issue of Jobpostings Magazine featuring this year's winners will be distributed on campuses across Canada in September.

"This year, we saw a wonderful range of initiatives tailored to the needs of recent college and university graduates," says Kristina Leung, the project's Editor.  "Many of these programs don't cost employers a lot of money or have huge budgets, but they do a great job at making young people understand they are central to the future of the organization."

Included among this year's winners are some noteworthy initiatives:

• JOEY Restaurant Group, based in Vancouver, hosts employee competitions for "Top Apprentice" and "League of Extraordinary Chefs" to ensure ongoing skills development by apprentice chefs.
  
  
• SaskPower, based in Regina, created a dedicated office staffed by 12 full-time staff to organize events for younger employees and ensure their views are taken into account in setting career development, diversity and business objectives.
  
  
• Sodexo Canada, based in Burlington, Ontario, organizes an international mentorship program, which pairs new graduates with overseas mentors and lets students spend a week in that country.
  
  
• Ernst & Young brings interns from all over the world to a four-day Leadership Conference, where they meet the firm's executive team - and develop leadership skills of their own.
  
  
• RBC encourages innovation among university students with its "Next Great Innovator Challenge", which asks students to solve a new problem each year (this year's question is about big data) for the chance to earn a $20,000 prize.
  
  

The full list of 2014 winners and the editors' detailed Reasons for Selection were released this morning at: www.CanadasTop100.com/young_people

Image with caption: "Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2014) (CNW Group/Mediacorp Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140428_C5187_PHOTO_EN_39601.jpg

SOURCE: Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Karen Le, Vice-President, 416-964-6069 x1460.