Google tops ANZ employees' dreams

EMPLOYER BRANDING

ANZ – Search engine giant Google has been crowned the dream company that Australians and New Zealanders would most like to work for.

In Australia, self-employment was ranked the second best work option, followed by the Virgin Group, Qantas, Apple and Microsoft.

Google also topped the list of dream employers in New Zealand, followed by self-employment, Air New Zealand, Apple and Kiwi Bank.

Other technology companies in the top 20 list were Vodafone, NASA and Facebook.

The second annual 2011 Dream Employers survey by Insync Research and RedBalloon had polled 7,100 respondents about where they want to work most, and why.

Respondents picked good pay, staff benefits, working conditions and work-life balance as the main reasons they would be attracted to a company.

Google handed its employees a 10% raise in 2010 and its workers famously enjoy aesthetically appealing offices, massages and naps on company time. Some former Google interns also told ZDNet Australia that the tech firm’s facilities and work-life balance had attracted them to the job.

The company's Australian HR manager Joe Krayer told AAP that Google has put in place “robust reward and recognition programmes” to keep staff happy. “[We] reward employees via excellent benefits and unique perks, such as massages, sleep pods and fun off-site events.”

The police and defence forces were a surprise inclusion in this year's top 20 dream employers after neither were featured in last year's list.

Scott Weber, president of Police Association of New South Wales, said television shows such as CSI attract new recruits because it portrays “a glossy, edited version of life as a police officer”. Although he warned that the job is “tough and dangerous, and significantly different to what you see on TV”, Weber acknowledged that the government should take advantage of the interest by increasing its recruitment drive.

The top 20 dream employers for 2011 (Australia):

   1. Google

   2. Self-employed

   3. Virgin Group

   4. Qantas

   5. Apple

   6. Microsoft

   7. OMD

   8. Walt Disney Company

   9. BHP Billiton

  10. Getaway (TV show)

  11. United Nations

  12. Police force

  13. Vodafone

  14. NASA

  15. Rio Tinto

  16. Australian Departments of Defence

  17. Commonwealth Bank

  18. Cadbury

  19. Facebook

  20. Lonely Planet

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