With more employers in commuting range, 'Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers' are redoubling efforts to attract the best and brightest
HAMILTON, ON, Nov. 21, 2018 /CNW/ - There's a strong recovery underway in the Hamilton-Niagara area and employers are going out of their way to attract the best employees. That's the message from this year's Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers competition, announced today by the editors of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp Canada Inc., which manages the competition.
"There is strong employment growth in the Hamilton-Niagara area," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. "Employers are responding by ensuring that their benefits and working conditions are competitive with what the best organizations in the wider region are offering."
From medical technology firms to educational institutions and hospitality providers, this year's winners closely match the area's diversified economic base. With better transportation links to the rest of the Golden Horseshoe, employees also have a wider range of career opportunities within a comfortable commute.
"People forget there's a flip side to the familiar story of more GTA residents buying homes in Hamilton-Niagara and commuting to work," says Anthony Meehan, Publisher at Mediacorp, "Existing residents now have a wider range of employment choices as well – and employers in the region are responding. They are working harder to attract and retain the best staff because these employees have more career choices today."
Some of the initiatives the editors singled out among this year's winners:
- At Dundas-based Stryker Canada, employees whose families require IVF treatments to start a new family can apply for a subsidy of up to $15,000 against the cost of the treatment;
- Hamilton-based Mohawk College encourages employees to keep upgrading their skills with generous tuition subsidies for courses that are related – even indirectly – to their current position, to a maximum of $10,500 per year;
- Brantford-based InvestorCOM supports employees who become new moms and dads with maternity and parental leave top-up payments, to 70% of salary for 17 weeks; and
- Burlington-based Sodexo Canada helps employees who want to take part in community projects that fight hunger and poverty by offering paid time-off to volunteer as well as matching employees' charitable donations.
Now in its 12th year, Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers is a special designation that recognizes employers in greater Hamilton and the Niagara area that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Employers are evaluated by the editors at Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. The annual competition is open to any employer with its head office in the Hamilton-Niagara area, and employers of any size may apply, whether private or public sector.
Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation's largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which includes 19 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach over 13 million Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, a widely used Canadian job search engine, which includes editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project and is now used by over 7 million users in Canada each year. Together with Willis Towers Watson, Mediacorp also hosts the Top Employer Summit, Canada's largest conference for senior-level HR professionals.
The full list of Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers for 2019 is attached. The winners were announced in a special magazine published in The Hamilton Spectator this morning. Detailed reasons for selection with additional stories and photos were also released today on the competition homepage.
Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers
2019 Winners
ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P., Hamilton
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., Burlington
Burlington Hydro Inc., Burlington
Hamilton, City of
IKEA Canada Limited Partnership, Burlington
InvestorCOM, Brantford
Joseph Brant Hospital, Burlington
McMaster University, Hamilton
Mohawk College, Hamilton
Niagara Casinos, Niagara Falls
Niagara Health, St Catharines
Sodexo Canada Ltd., Burlington
St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton
Stryker Canada Inc., Dundas
Tim Horton Children's Foundation, Inc., St. George
SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.
Kristina Leung, Senior Editor, 416-964-6069 x1464
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