World-class innovators are stepping up efforts to attract the best and brightest employees: This year's 'Waterloo Area's Top Employers' are announced

WATERLOO, ON, Dec. 10, 2019 /CNW/ - With a dynamic economy that is attracting some of the world's best and brightest, employers in Waterloo are stepping up their efforts to ensure they attract and retain talented employees.  That's the message from the 2020 list of Waterloo Area's Top Employers, released today by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

"The Waterloo area is known around the world for its technology expertise and is home to some of the most advanced international research in engineering and computer science," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp.  "The area is supported by first-class educational, health and public services that have made it possible for the world's best and brightest to study, work and live in this region."

Some notable initiatives the editors singled out this year include:

• Waterloo-based OpenText Corp. recognizes exceptional employee performance through a variety of interesting initiatives, including the CEO excellence awards, an achiever's club for sales employees, and a unique patent incentive to reward employees for innovative ideas.
  
  
• Dental anaesthetic supplier Novocol Pharmaceutical of Canada Inc., based in Cambridge, encourages employees to give back to the community by providing staff with three paid days off each year to volunteer at local charities.
  
  
• Waterloo-based ON Semiconductor, which designs power management integrated circuits, invests heavily in employee training and development for tomorrow's economy with tuition subsidies of up to $7,000 per year for employees to upgrade their skills.
  
  
• Environmental consulting firm AET Group Inc. of Kitchener helps employees reduce their own ecological footprint with generous subsidies for taking public transit to work and cash rebates on purchasing new bicycles and electric cars.
  
  
• Waterloo North Hydro Inc., which supplies electricity for Waterloo and a few surrounding townships, has a forward-thinking wellness program for staff that includes classes on topics from mental health to nutrition.

Now in its 13^th year, Waterloo Area's Top Employers is a special designation that recognizes employers in Kitchener-Waterloo and the Guelph area that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work.  Employers were 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 Kitchener-Waterloo or Guelph area; 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 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach over 15 million Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, one of Canada's largest job search engines, which reaches 7.4 million unique visitors annually and features editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. Mediacorp also hosts Canada's largest conference for senior-level HR professionals, the Top Employer Summit. This year's conference took place at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto in November.

The full list of Waterloo Area's Top Employers for 2020 was announced in a special feature published in the Waterloo Region Record this morning. Stories on this year's winners will also appear this Thursday in the Guelph Mercury Tribune and Cambridge Times.  Detailed reasons for selection explaining why each of this year's winners were chosen, with additional stories and photos, were released this morning on the competition homepage.

SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Kristina Leung, Senior Editor, at 416-964-6069 x1464