Brill Street announces winners of the Top 50 Employers for Generation Y Chicago

Chicago, IL — October 27, 2009 — Until now, companies and potential recruits have suffered from a lack of data and a one-way flow of information. Recognizing this problem, Brill Street set out to uncover the heart and soul of what makes each company tick. With the unveiling of this exciting study comes a custom website highlighting what makes each company different and attractive. Uncovering interesting perks that make each unique, the website includes videos and photos to bring each organization to life: Top 50 Employers for Generation Y Chicago.

Chicago employers with at least 10% of their workforce comprised of Gen Y were eligible to nominate their organization through a detailed survey assessing their workplace, grounded by exhaustive research analyzing what Gen Yers value in an employer. Finalists scoring highly in key areas were selected for on-site interviews to discover firsthand what makes their workplaces exceptional.

The Chicago Tribune’s article, “Firms boost workplace benefits to attract, retain, tech-savvy workers,” highlights some of the many perks Brill Street found at the ‘Top 50 Employers for Generation Y Chicago’ and claims that, “If the list of perks sounds like a throwback to the dot-com boom, think again.”

All featured employers are actively pushing the status quo to make their workplace a productive and welcoming environment for the emerging generation. Although recent college grads are facing one of the toughest job markets in years, many of these companies are hiring and investing in a resource they deem to be extremely precious: generation Y. “When we built the company we built it around Generation Y,” says Jeff Ellman, Co-founder of Homescout Realty, a leading leasing and realty agency in Lincoln Park that ranked sixteen. “They are extremely important and have brought so many ideas and technology; it’s helped our business grow to new levels.” Joe Mansueto, Chairman and CEO at Morningstar Inc. adds “Many of the new college graduates we hire today will be future leaders at Morningstar, so we put a lot of effort into recruiting and training our entry-level employees. We work hard to get the right people onboard
from the start of their careers.”

No matter what the economic climate, the Top 50 companies relentlessly pursue excellence in the culture of their business. Julie Guida, Managing Partner at Marketing Werks comments, “Our business requires employees to tap into what they know about themselves and their peers to create relevant experiences for like-minded consumers, so we empower Gen Y to succeed and excel at doing that. At Marketing Werks’, our Gen Y-centric culture makes for an energized, confident and collaborative work environment and, ultimately, for great outcomes on many fronts.”

This never-before executed, quantitative and qualitative study explored areas such as compensation and benefits, perks, corporate social responsibility, advancement potential, training opportunities, jobs for Generation Y, and the nature of day-to-day work.

Winners were chosen using a point-based model developed by GfK Custom Research North America, a leading global marketing research agency. “GfK Custom Research North America is pleased to partner with Brill Street on this critical career initiative,” said Derek Allen, Ph.D., Executive Vice President at GfK. “With more than 70 million belonging to the Generation-Y segment, now more than ever, companies should recognize their unique characteristics to capitalize on the benefits they bring to our workforce.”

The Top 50 Employers for Generation Y Chicago are:
1. Morningstar, Inc.
2. Google
3. Orbitz Worldwide
4. Euro RSCG Chicago
5. Edelman
6. Total Attorneys
7. WMS
8. Threadless
9. Marketing Werks
10. TRU
11. Townsend Analytics
12. NCSA
13. rEvolution
14. Digitas
15. Joel Warady Group
16. Homescout Realty
17. Razorfish
18. The Field Museum
19. Assurance Agency
20. Performics
21. Sandstorm Design
22. Vodori
23. Deloitte
24. Big Ten Network
25. Starcom MediaVest Group
26. Orbit Media Studios
27. Emerging Solutions
28. Ceteris
29. West Monroe Partners
30. Model Metrics
31. GrubHub.com
32. Burwood Group
33. Avanade
34. Sittercity
35. Echo Global Logistics
36. MSDSonline
37. Hard Rock Hotel Chicago
38. Akoo International
39. Monitor Group
40. Trading Technologies
41. User Centric
42. Leapfrog Online
43. Acquity Group
44. Sonoma Partners
45. InnerWorkings
46. Warady & Davis
47. Geckotech
48. Cheeky Chicago
49. A.T. Kearney
50. Encyclopaedia Britannica

You can view this release on our press page.

About Brill Street:
Since people make all the difference in a competitive business environment, Brill Street offers a unique way to connect employers to potential employees who are likely to be high performers in their organizations.

Offering a scientifically-validated competency-based approach, Brill Street provides a unique solution to hire and manage talent more effectively. Brill Street measures 75 dimensions of competency and culture-fit, offering insight into what makes current employees tick with access to a talent pool of people that are likely to succeed.

Note: Brill Street considers Generation Y a new perspective, not an age, and actively works with people across all generations. For the purposes of the study, Generation Y was defined as any employee aged 28 years or younger.

This press release was distributed through PR Web by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company
listed above.