EUROPE'S BEST EMPLOYER AWARDED IN BADEN!

Baden near Vienna, May 22, 2009: The international Microsoft Software Corporation has been again nominated Europe’s best employer. The corporation ranks first in the category of large companies with more than 500 employees out-performing the German insurance company impuls Finanzmanagement and the IT-giant Google. In the category of companies with 50 to 500 employees, the Greek swimming pool producer Piscines Idealis comes in first, followed by the software company Reaktor Innovations from Finland and Germany’s ConSol*-Software.

This year’s Europe’s 100 best employers’ award ceremony was held for the first time in Austria on May 20, 2009. 50 companies in two size categories have been awarded prizes in the Congress Casino Baden near Vienna. Also joining the 250 CEOs, Executives and HR-managers of Europe’s best employers for the awards ceremony were secretary of state, Christine Marek; former Federal Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat; Ms Mag. Mikl-Leitner, member of the Lower Austrian Government; Dr. Christoph Schneider from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber; and member of the Provincial Government and Mayor of the City of Baden, Erika Adensamer.

It is getting harder and harder from year to year for companies to reach the top of the best employers in Europe ranking. More than 1,350 companies participated in this year’s Great Place to Work® competition. The increase in participants shows that, in spite of the economic crisis, more and more companies are interested in a sustainable development of their workplace quality. It is well known that this commitment also pays off from a financial point of view. Europe’s 100 best employers increased their last fiscal year’s earnings by an average of 23% in spite of the economic crisis. Simultaneously, their number of employees rose by 11.4%. “The best employers are, in all situations, committed to their core values and their employee orientation. Therefore, employees are greatly more motivated, client oriented, more productive and in addition to that, more innovative. The difference between the good and the best companies is explicitly viewable in those times of an economic crisis,” declares Mathias Wolf, executive manager of the Great Place to Work® Institute Austria.

Photos of the Small & Medium sized companies

Photos of the Special Awards

Photos of the Large & Multinational companies

The complete list of the “100 Best Workplaces in Europe 2009” can be found under: