For the third straight year, the Israel Electric Company has been rated the best company in the country to work for, followed by Intel, Bezeq, Partner and Teva, Business Data Israel Ltd. said Sunday in its annual report of the 50 top-ranked Israeli employers. "The Israeli economy is showing signs of impressive growth over the past years and this prosperity is expected to continue over the next year and increase the demand for quality staff," said Tehila Yanai, joint CEO of BDI Israel. "For this reason, there is increased awareness among managers to focus on the employee and the quality of human capital in an effort to reach financial targets." BDI spent 12 months researching work conditions, first surveying approximately 2,000 employees as to what are the changing criteria that define a work place as good. At the second stage, the survey of 10,000 employees working in companies across the country examined the weight of importance of the parameters that defined their preferred work place and work conditions. The criteria deemed significant were, first, the strength of the company, after which work relationships were ranked second and, in third place, employment stability. Only in fourth place, the surveyed rated wage levels and accompanying conditions such as future progression. Bank Hapoalim, took sixth place in the overall rankings, followed by Cellcom, the Strauss Group, Bank Leumi and Pelephone Communications to round out the top 10. New entrants to the 2007 BDI ranking were Iscar Ltd., which came in at number 28, the SAP group, which was ranked 45th, and the Hot cable company, which was placed at number 48. Sector by sector analysis showed that among industry and trade companies, IEC was rated the best while Intel was favored among communications and hi-tech companies; Strauss was first among food and beverage companies; and Hapoalim was best among finance and services companies.