A Virgin plane takes off from Kingsford Smith airport in Sydney
A Virgin plane takes off from Kingsford Smith airport in Sydney August 30, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz

Virgin Australia was chosen as the best place to work in Australia in the annual Randstad Awards. The airline has been hailed as Australia’s “most attractive” employer with 50 percent of Australians voting for it.

Randstad, a recruitment and HR company, has released the results of its Randstad Awards' top 20 most attractive companies and top 10 most attractive industries in the country. Randstad Australia CEO Frank Ribuot said the award was reflected Virgin Australia’s sustainable investment in building a major brand.

“It’s better to shape and actively manage your brand rather than simply leaving it to chance, if you want to make sure you’re attracting the best talent to your business,” said Ribuot. ABC followed Virgin Australia in second place despite suffering job losses in the past 12 months, reports SMH.

The Department of Immigration made it to the list in third place followed by the Seven Network and Qantas, another Australian airline, in fourth and fifth. According to the Randstad, majority of voters wanted to work in Virgin Australia for they believe the company has a pleasant working atmosphere, good work-life balance and strong management.

The relative attractiveness of organisations is based on the responses of 12,000 Australians out of 225,000 people worldwide. Respondents were asked a series of questions about the companies they would like to work with and why.

Steve Shephered, a Randstad employment analyst, said the research is more important than employee surveys because it reveals where people would like to work. It could also help employers how to make their companies more attractive to job seekers.

Randstad believes the brand of the company is “crucial” when recruiting new employees who want job security, competitive compensation, strong work culture and job satisfaction as among the factors that influence them when applying for a job. Ribuot explained that an employer brand is like an organisation’s “billboard.” With a wealth of information on the Internet, jobseekers can easily find out more about a company and its values by reading what they find online.

With Virgin Australia and Qantas in the top five, the aviation industry emerged as the best industry to work in. About 45 percent of those interviewed said they would like to work for airline companies.

Aside from the Department of Immigration, other government agencies in the country that made it the top 20 are the Department of Defence, Department of Health, the Australian Federal Police. In the banking and financial services sector, National Australia Bank was declared the most attractive employer, beating ANZ Bank and Westpac.

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