WASHINGTON, DC—AARP’s IT department has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT by IDG’s Computerworld for the second consecutive year. Computerworld gives the award to organizations that challenge their IT staff, while providing great benefits and competitive compensation, and ample opportunities for growth. This year AARP ranked number 4 among midsize organizations up from number 16 from last year.

“We are proud to have created an environment of empowerment and innovation where all team members can thrive and add value to AARP’s social mission – with innovative technology solutions and operational excellence,” said AARP CIO, Amy Doherty. “Our shared commitment to driving engagement, accountability, and fun on the ITS team has created a strong culture that is hard to find anywhere else.”

“As technology moves to the strategic center of every business, the ability of the enterprise to attract and retain skilled IT talent has become critically important,” says Ken Mingis, executive editor of Computerworld.  “The 100 organizations on our 2017 Best Places to Work in IT list keep their tech employees happy and engaged by offering generous salaries, top-notch benefits, continuous training, and access to cutting-edge technologies. In empowering their tech workforce, these firms gain competitive advantage, and we applaud them for their achievements.”

Featured AARP IT initiatives include The Tech Nest, AARP’s first university-based lab focused on leading-edge technologies enabling creative solutions to address the needs of the 50-plus population; launching a “Workforce of the Future” initiative to redesign AARP’s real-time work environments, conferencing and broadcast capabilities, work collaboration and remote options for a “work anywhere” focus with a new level of cohesion and collaboration;  a work culture program with monthly, quarterly and annual events which encourage staff to adopt eight workforce principles ranging from accountability and empowerment to fun and innovation within their department and across AARP.  

These efforts demonstrate how AARP’s IT department is shifting from a technology-driven support organization to a team of technology thought leaders engaged in embracing a new way for AARP employees to work, collaborate, team and engage in new ideas to support their work, the AARP mission, and AARP-wide innovation. 

AARP leadership is committed to educating IT employees to help them better understand the business, mission and how their work fits in with business goals.

For more information about Computerworld’s 100 Best Places to Work in IT for 2017 please visit: www.computerworld.com/category/bestplaces2017/

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About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name.  As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world’s largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.

About the Best Places to Work in IT
The Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top 100 work environments for technology professionals by IDG’s Computerworld. The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, training and retention. In addition, Computerworld conducts extensive surveys of IT workers, and their responses factor heavily in determining the rankings.

About Computerworld
Computerworld from IDG is the leading technology media brand helping senior IT, business decision-makers and key influencers navigate change with effective business strategy. As the voice of business technology, Computerworld enables the IT value chain with unique editorial coverage from setting strategies to deriving value. Computerworld’s award-winning website (www.computerworld.com), focused conference series, strategic marketing solutions and research forms the hub of the world’s largest (40+ edition) global IT media network and provides opportunities for IT vendors to engage this audience. Computerworld leads the industry with an online audience of over 7.1 million monthly page views (Omniture, January 2016 – June 2016 average) and was recognized in 2016 as a top website by ASBPE. Computerworld is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of IDG. Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.