The best places to work revealed and the companies subsidising fertility treatment

This week, AFR BOSS revealed 2024's best places to work.

Companies picked up awards for a range of reasons. But a common thread among them was the understanding that employees are more than just workers.

The most progressive employers treat their staff like people with responsibilities outside the office by offering them freedom and autonomy. Research suggests this could make firms more productive, too.

Visit our BOSS Best Places to Work page to find out which companies were named the best employers in the country. Our coverage also includes analysis on the key ingredients needed for a workplace to thrive.

Elsewhere, 谷歌 has joined the growing ranks of companies in Australia offering financial reimbursements to staff for fertility treatments such as egg freezing and IVF.

The new benefit gives all of Google’s 2000-odd employees in Australia and New Zealand up to $33,200 in lifetime support and comes as white-collar employers offer more support for parents and employees wanting to have children.

Our story this week explains how the policy puts Google in line with rival tech giants 苹果 and Meta , which were among the first companies to offer employer-subsidised egg freezing about 10 years ago.

Australia was also named the No.1 country in the world for professionals seeking to relocate internationally this week. It marked the first time Australia had topped 波士顿谘询公司 ’s rankings, climbing from seventh in 2014.

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows out there. Survey data given to The Australian Financial Review this week suggests a rising share of employees are going above and beyond at work, despite taking an increasingly dim view of their jobs.

Consultancy Gartner ’s take? Motivated by fear, workers are redoubling their efforts to avoid being made redundant.

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