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Pandemic supports lauded as Canada’s Top 100 Employers list unveiled for 2021

Nearly two years into a pandemic that has seen millions of Canadians working from home, employers increasingly are recognizing the effects of isolation and redoubling their efforts to emphasize human interaction in the workplace.

That’s the message from this year’s winners of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition, announced this morning by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

“The pandemic has reminded us that human interaction is very much the glue that binds society and a workforce,” says Richard Yerema, managing editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp.

“While it’s clear that much office work can now be done from home, good employers are thinking more deeply about the adverse social and health effects that come from isolation, especially mental health.”

“While we want to be cautious talking about ‘silver linings’ from a pandemic that continues to exact a devastating toll,” says Anthony Meehan, publisher at Mediacorp.

“Employers increasingly are thinking about what working life looks like after the pandemic.  The best organizations are changing their workplaces to emphasize benefits like human interaction and camaraderie that offsite employees don’t get from a steady diet of Zoom meetings and chat applications.”

Along with discussing the future of work after the pandemic, many employers have doubled down on efforts to support employees during the pandemic, from increasing support for mental health to frequent communications from senior leadership, extending health coverage to temporarily laid-off employees and finding ways to improve representation by Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC).

Employers on this year’s list have also been active in charitable projects closer to home, bringing their employees together and helping disadvantaged residents in their community who have often been least able to handle the public response to the pandemic.

Now in its 22^nd annual edition, Canada’s Top 100 Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes employers with exceptional human resources programs and forward-thinking workplace policies. Editors at Mediacorp grade employers on eight criteria, which have remained consistent since the project’s inception: (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. The editors publish detailed ‘reasons for selection’ for these criteria, providing transparency in the selection of winners and a catalogue of best practices for employers and job-seekers.

The full list of winners is available here.