Japan Tobacco International, the Japanese producer of cigarettes and tobacco products, has been selected as the best employer in the Czech Republic for the fourth consecutive time. The results have been presented as part of Top Employer 2024 awards, a regular certification process that evaluated working conditions in 2,300 companies in 122 countries worldwide. According to the survey, there are only 23 top employers in the Czech Republic, with JTI in the top spot. JTI markets the Winston and Camel brands in the Czech Republic, the number one and number two on the tobacco market, and Ploom X heated tobacco.
“To be able to achieve excellent business results, we need the very best employees. And to be able to attract them, we simply have to offer the best possible working conditions. That encompasses openness, fairness, good workplace conditions, and, no less importantly, remuneration. For example two years ago, after conducting a review on the matter, we found out to everyone's surprise that there were differences in the earnings of men and women in similar positions. That was immediately rectified. JTI is the only tobacco company that is growing on an otherwise shrinking market. That is an extraordinary achievement accomplished thanks to the great people who work at JTI,” says Stephane Berset, JTI's General Manager for Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia.
“For instance, our field representatives have had the flexibility to work remotely one day a week since last year, allowing them to engage with customers remotely. In our office, we uphold a rule where employees split their working time – spending half of the month at the office and the other half working from home, if they wish" explains Yelena Yugova, JTI’s People & Culture Director for Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia. “Attaining the Top Employer certification is more and more challenging year by year, as competition raises the bar. Despite the increasing challenges, we are proud to have received the Top Employer certification 12 times, standing unrivalled for the past four years. This is an extraordinary accomplishment," Yugova emphasizes.
“The Top Employer certificate testifies to the fact that our people are truly at the heart of everything we do. It points out the progress we continually achieve in improving the working environment, caring for the wellbeing of our employees, and the attention we pay to diversity, equality, and inclusion,” enumerates Guergana Andreeva, JTI’s Global Senior Vice President for People & Culture.
JTI has held the global Top Employer certification for the past 10 consecutive years. This year, JTI is one of only 17 companies awarded the title in the world. The Czech Republic is one of 11 countries from around the world, where JTI is rated as the very best employer.
“We have won the Top Employer award thanks to our 46,000 employees of 119 different nationalities. The fact that we have held the certificate for 10 years in a row bears witness to our present and future employees that JTI is a great place to work. We are even more pleased, however, about the broad spectrum of various initiatives which we have implemented worldwide and which have contributed to improving the wellbeing of our workers, their satisfaction on the job, and options to develop their career,” adds Andreeva.
Apart from the usual palette of fringe benefits, JTI offers its employees among others the option to make an anonymous request to be included in the Within Reach emergency service run by LIFE90, an organization helping senior citizens life in their homes as long as possible. This way, JTI’s people can work without worrying about their parents or grandparents, knowing that help is within reach if need be. JTI also for example guarantees both parents equal conditions for drawing parental leave, regardless of their gender or whether the addition to their family has been born or adopted. JTI employees can also anonymously draw upon psychology counselling, legal advices or finance coach services.