100 Best Companies to Work For

I am a health care professional working for OhioHealth, and as pointed by other OhioHealth employees, I am also puzzled by the fact that our organization is in the top 100. Pay may be good for MD and RN’s but for my particular allied health profession, our pay was the lowest in our region (15 states in the Midwest). Medical benefits have become significantly limited in the last 2 years, with only one plan available with very high deductibles. Retirement is not competitive with matching of only 2%. Number of vacation day is competitive. Culture, at least in our area, is very corrupt with emphasis on being superficial and pretending everything is great and positive, having no room for any (even constructive) criticisms or dealing with a real problem because people would rather pretend that there are no problems. I do not think that this organization value honesty and/or hard work. Saying what the organization wants to hear seem to get you promotions and acknowledgments rather than your abilities or having good work ethics. I also have seen organization retaliating against employees for blowing the whistle on ethical problems identified within the organization.

What about John Deere?
-401k matching of 10% of salary with employee contribution of 6%.
-Many opportunities for advancement and working abroad.
-On-site rec facilities.
-All promotion from within.
-$15k in education assistance per year.
-Flexible work day for salaried employees
-Perhaps the best: world class safety record.

LiDestri Foods is a great place to work! Their concern for employee health is second to none. They’re the tops in my book.

I agree with Shawn of VT. Stanley has jobs, but they don’t offer raises as such. They don’t give out performances appraisals. If you haven’t used your sick leave they will take it away from you or you have to cash it out. Also HR employees don’t return phone calls, emails, or letters when you have a complaint. You have to literally harrass them in order to recieve a response. Oh with Health insurance yes they’ll pay 100% for the EMPLOYEE, but the co pay and prescriptions are EXTREMELY HIGH! 40 dollars a visit when visiting a specialist. Health & Welfare is steady going up, but not the pay! One thing before I go. If you ever get terminated from Stanley they don’t care because it’s not them. Stanley worry about revenue and that’s it. If you have an issue you better et over it, and take it to and outside organization like EEOC.

Key to becoming a “Best Company to Work For” is their having a substantial, sustainable competitive advantage that allows above-average margins. That, in turn, allows nice employee perks. The “bad news” is that firms often allow their competitive advantages to be eaten away by competitors – ultimately, the employees pay.

Starbucks has in fact done a 180 since this survey. In fact, I bet if a new survey came out, Starbucks wouldn’t even be on it! I worked for the company for nearly 4 years. The last year and a half has been the worse! Although Starbucks has had an incredible turnover rate lately, the competitive benefits that they offer make up for it. I just left the company to sell insurance and so far it’s been the best decision I have ever made! I’ve made more money within the last three months selling insurance than I did in one year at Starbucks.

I would have to agree with you on this one. I can not believe they are in the top 100 either. 10yrs Service.

Microsoft is the best company I have worked for. The benefits are outstanding – 100% FREE healthcare – it’s fantastic – employees pay $0 contribution from paychecks & $0 co-pays for doctor visits or prescriptions. WOW.

You are immediately 100% vested in your 401(k) as soon as you start. That’s HUGE.

As far as paid time off – 8 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays, 3 weeks vacation per year, 2 weeks sick time…AMAZING.

I love this place!

I was recently offered a job at The Container Store and declined due to the pay. I was mislead by reading that Fortune states that The Container Store “has kept top entry-level pay at 50% to 100% higher than retail average”. I was offered $11 an hour and also told there was a salary freeze for a year so I shouldn’t expect an increase. Had I known what the pay was I wouldn’t have applied. What a waste of time.

Maybe Paychex Long Island office is overworked, but then living on Long Island is its own punishment anyway.
Maybe that’s why she’s so bitter. And she is wrong, the perks remain!

I am very surprised not to see USAA on your list.

I actually worked at Milliken & Company at their headquarters in Spartanburg, SC and I can not believe Milliken is anywhere near 100 top companies. I left within the last year and everything is still fresh in my mind. The benefits were horrible to say the least. My kid’s immunizations and physicals were not even covered by insurance and deductibles were outragoues. The systems are from 1970’s and very difficult to use. The culture is very old-fashioned and it is very difficult to get anything to change. I am not sure how they got on the list but they definately have no business being on it. And I think most of the employees there agree with me.

It’s good that no cruise lines have been mentioned, as they work on US territory but they claimed that they are not a US Company.

I see you list Milliken as having a work-out gym. Did you realize there is only one of these gyms out of the over 50 Milliken locations and it is located at the Milliken headquarters for the “top dogs” can enjoy. This one point may make it a good place to work but only for a select few. Suggest you modify your question wording to 1) how many separate sites does your comapny have, and 2) how many of those have work-out areas.

Quicken Loans? Seriously? Ask someone who works their what they think! This list just lost its credibility

I agree with the fellow Methodist employee… here’s hoping we’ll be at #1 next year. Even outside the hospitals themselves, in areas like marketing, employees treat each other like family. This company truly lives its values.

I think Trader Joe’s should be listed. I love working there! Great benefits, too!

What about Amgen? It has many of the “unusual perks”, such as 5 weeks paid vacation and lots of company-subsidized events, like kayaking around the Channel Islands. It was on the list in the past…what made it drop out?

Dear Sirs:
I work for Milliken & Co. and have been shocked to see that you list them as one of the top 100 companies to work for. Who do you interview in the company? Certainly no one outside of the ivory tower headquarters in Spartanburg, SC. Honestly, for Milliken to have this rating is a joke among the employees inside the company. Please take a closer look on your next years evaluation!

Regards,
Russell

I am surprised to see MSFT at 86, I think its an awesome place to work ! I love every aspect of working here.

Why isn’t Mckim & Creed on the list

American Fidelity Assurance Company was #24, and they are an insurance company.

Why no Railroads? Everyone wants to work for the railroad. Ever herd of Railroad retirement.

Why is Bright Horizons on this list? This list is a joke. I worked for them for almost a year. I quit because it would take over an hour to get a bathroom break! I was pregnant at the time. I was paid $14.00 an hour and had a 4 year teaching degree.

I counted 14 out of the 100 best Companies to work for are here is Hawaii. How many did you count???

why werent any insurance companies on the list?

I was so happy to see my former company Bright Horizons Family Solutions on the list. I’m actually getting ready to go back to the company. They pay really well (when I left the company last time I was making over $11 an hour with NO degree, because I was still in school) and they have great benefits. I can’t wait to go back to the company once my family and I move back to our hometown.

Paychex is a wonderful place to work! Some of the paid benefits are things like wellness visits, which Paychex will pay up to 12 hours per year for you to visit the doctor or to take your children. They also pay up to 8 hours a year for you to volunteer your time for charity/volunteer work. Tution reimburesment at up to $6500 per year. Two weeks vacation your first year, 5 paid sick days, 4 floating holidays, 6 reg holidays, 5 paid sick days per year. Still need more time off? Paychex also grants unpaid vacation time. They also offer the EAP, Professional Work Life Balance, and much, much more!! Their growth rate averages about 33% a year and yes, there may be some individuals who are overworked/overloaded, but Paychex is striving hard for that work and life balance. They are also not quick to hire just anyone off the streets. There is at least 3 interviews involved in the hiring process/decision. They only want the best of the best. Their training programs are amazing! I have never worked for a place that was so devoted and passionate about the training their employees receive, nor a company that has NO DEBT!! A wonderful place to work with over 2 billion a year – debt free!! Paychex has a lot to offer! Yes, I agree, if you are not happy, move on, but remember, happiness if found from within – you make out of your life/career what you put into it. If you don’t enjoy what you do and who you work for, then you are as much as the problem as the company itself. Do both of you a big favor and move on! I have worked at some of the worst places, but this is by far the best I have worked for and I look forward to being a positive contributor at Paychex! Best to all of you out there!!

Starbucks has done a 180 since this survey: they laid off hundreds without notice and even took away earned vacation in Seattle (washington allows this. but not CA) becuase they could. SAved a lot of cash. but significantly HURT MORALE. i’D LIKE TO SEE THE JUST COMPLETED INTRERNAL SURVEY (JUST FINISHED before LAYOFFS!) now!

I work for KPMG, albeit in Canada, and wish it was higher up on the list. The support you get as an employee is really amazing. I have never heard of any HR or related issues. Yes, the turnover is high, but the lifelong retention right is fantastic. Past KPMG employees come back with business and referrals to the firm all the time, and many employees actually return to the firm after they work in industry for a few years. KPMG is very supportive of this and offers good programs to ease back into the workforce. Staying connected with the firm is highly encouraged and everyone is quite proactive about it.

Coming from a courier of 13 years at FEDEX EXPRESS no reasonable raises and the insurance is getting worse and worse. Dont work for them

FedEx was on the list as one of the best companies to work for. Try working in FCIS (FedEx Customer Information Services). If you are a exempt employee, you are treated as a production worker. I agree, with the previous employee at FedEx Kinkos. The VP and Managers all ride you like you are robots. Don’t challenge management or you will not have a job. What happen to Fred Smith’s philosphy PSP (People, Service Profits) It more like PROFITS, PROFITS, PROFITS. People are treated like slaves in under this umbrella. Management tell you to get your degree but it is target towards the African Americans employees. Management in that department hold positions with a GED and African Americans can not get a interview. FedEx best company to work for? yeah right. Move on.

I have lost a alot of respect for fortune’s list of top 100 to work for. Quicken Loans has no right to be at number two. The Fortune survey is only handed out to select employes (i was one two years ago). The should do more research before compiling this list.

I find it curious that there aren’t any Union organizations on this list (like AFL-CIO, IBEW, UAW, UFW, etc etc). I work for a large union and we employ thousands. Aside from spending millions on lobbying, a large part of our job also involves going around to various sites to collect dues, and then…we….have…to…go…back…to…our…HQ’s…and..ZZZZZzzzzzzz

Working for a company owned by GS may not be such a rewarding experience. Examples: Recent employee satisfaction survey reported the #! complaint by far is low pay rates. Since GS bought the company in late ‘06, early ‘07, they have been promising a review of area cost of living vs employment compensation – none forthcoming. The company President’s response to this issue during a recent all staff meeting? “I’m telling you right now, there will be no pay increase in the near future.” Other major complaints – limited time off, increasing workloads, little to no employee training, little recognition of a job well-done, limited resources, no flex-time, telecommuting nor job-sharing. Need a job? They’re hiring!

Stanley Associates ought not be on this list. The company refuses to give any of its employees any paid sick time and forces its mostly female workforce in Vermont to take time without pay or burn vacation if they or their kids get ill. Stanley says its “ideologically” opposed to paid time off. Why should a company with this kind of attitude by on this list?

why is nike there? they use child labour and pay barely minimum wage in third world countries

Paychex should not be on the list anymore. I worked there for years and all the perks have been taken away. The pay is very low compared to other similiar companies and you are worked like a slave, no lie!! They expect you to complete the work of three people all at once. Turnover is now out of control there and there are no new hires running to their doors due to the lack of pay.

Are you kidding? Starbucks!!! They just terminated 1200 employees. Companies that make this list care about their employees. When Starbucks let these people go it was with a e-mail to join their boss on a conference call. They phoned in to get their supervisor and a HR rep to tell them their job was eliminated and you are now unemployed. It took 4 minutes and 0 empathy. These were long time employees in the field and offices. Starbucks culture is a fraud. I dont know Howard Schultz sleeps at night.

Edward Jones deserves to be on the list. I have been working for Edward Jones corporate office for 14 months. Only regret is that I hadn’t start sooner. I’ve had nothing but great support, the hiring process for detailed and my recruiter she was very professional. I get nothing but the best of support from Associate Relations and everyone I work with.

I think these surveys on on the money, my husband and sister work for wegmans, i would be devistated if my husband lost his job there, they are incredible the pay is wow, and they treat everyone with respect, go wegmans

I’m surprised to see that my employer, Cummins, is NOT on the list. It’s probably because they don’t engage in superficial publicity, but I believe that a poll of employees around the world would prove them worthy. “Great Place to Work” is one of the top driving principles of the company, and it isn’t just fluff. Every decision is viewed based upon what it means to the welfare, safety, and morale of the workforce. Like many others, I am grateful and happy to be with a company that has such genuinely high values.

I am absolutely shocked that Bright Horizons Family Solutions is on this list. Granted they are not high on the list, but they should not even be considered a great place to work. Bright Horizons claims to pay their teachers well, but that is a lie. I believe this website says that this company rakes in $625 million a year and yet they only pay their teachers (who do have degrees!) $7-8 an hour!!! How does that make this a great company to work for? I have worked at different Bright Horizons centers and all of their management teams are horrific. None of them know how to communicate with each other, and it’s amazing how much of the management teams talk bad about each other in front of their employees. They are so unprofessional! The management team also likes to call teachers into their offices and belittle them and when another teacher asks why their co-worker is upset, that co-worker gets yelled at for being a compassionate person. (You’d think compassionate people would be what a Child Care company would want working for them, but apparently not.) Anyone who is thinking of working for this company should seriously reconsider!

Chesapeake Energy should be higher on the list. Their 401(k) match is amazing — dollar for dollar up to 15% of salary and bonuses. They have an amazing 50,000 square foot fitness center with tons of morning, lunch and after-work classes, two resturaunts, salary increases and bonuses twice a year. Wine tasting events, family movie nights, mother/daughter date nights … their programs remind me of a church or country club. They’ve done a great job creating a “community” environment and my friends and family members are always sending me their resumes because they want to get on here.

I agree with Marcus. I worked for PwC and although some groups are more humane than others, in general this firm is the last bastion for command and control types, and they consistently demonstrate little regard for people, although they like to say they do. The performance measurement system is based on People, Quality and Profitable Growth, with the last category the most important. Quality is only important to the extent that it prevents law suits (hence, more profitable growth!), and People, well look at how many applicants they have, why bother valuing anyone when they can be so easily replaced. Take a harder look at this organization next time, their direct competition, the other big 4 are much better.

I work at Erickson and you are def not allowed to bring your pet to work

I’ve worked for Stanley for about 7 months now and am happy to see it on the list.

This is the first time in my life I have been happy to go into work every day and while the pay could be higher, the benefits are great and the atmosphere (in my opinion) makes up for it.

I would rather be making decent money and be happy than be making a ton of money and be miserable. It is amusing to see us work side by side with the Department of State employees making much more than we do, and we enjoy ourselves and our jobs and they appear miserable.

One thing that stands out is that morale is more important than production and they would rather you do a good job and enjoy yourself at work than have your numbers way up. Director Shelton is fantastic and it is downright amazing that no one there has a bad thing to say about him (except maybe his singing ability.)

Qualcomm as best #8 companies to work for? Are you serious? My best friends was offered a jobs there and was delayed several weeks and eventually was filled out by some H1 foreigner with cheaper pay. What a great company for American to work for?

Unlike most of the other posters, I’m actually glad to see my employer on this list. Starbucks has been the first service position (to say nothing of food service position) where they both care about helping part-timers get enough hours to keep their insurance benefits AND they also treat you like a person. When I was working a big event at an unfamiliar store one day and someone was unkind to me (hey, service jobs are unpredictable), the management dealt with it and then called my home store the next morning to make sure I was okay. I have not had that level of concern paid to me in full-time positions, let alone a part-time gig!

I agree these surveys are not on the up and up. Fortune should review salary and benefits for themselves. Kimley Horn pays well below average for their positions. Anyone at a support level is worked ragged until they get fed up and leave. They have no worth to KHA. KHA is one of the most expensive firms yet most emplyees make 30% below the median pay for their positions. The company’s benefits are average at best but they hire people straight out of school and convince them their pay is top notch and that other firms do not offer benefits (That is blatant BS). Management is constantly finding ways for employees to prove their loyalty to the company so that they can be rewarded in six months and then six months later, another hoop to jump through rather than reward. When you catch on, you are out the door. That is not to mention the blantant racism, sexism and homophobia. There is 1 african american on the coporate management team and none in any positions of power in the charlotte office at least. Any hired at a level higher than cad or admin level are let go post haste. Usually those transfer in from elsewhere in the company and are let go. I know of three women who were transferred or fired after reporting sexual harrasment. The egos of management are huge as are those of the managment hopefuls. I have found brown nosing gets me the rewards there that working hard did not. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth though.

I agree with Leah from KY. When I used to work for Petco, we were “encouraged” by our managers to vote for our company. It’s all a big scam. More often than not, in my experience, the best companies to work for are small privately-owned companies where the office environment is cooperative, no one is fighting to get a corner office, and everyone acts like family. Big, publicly-traded corporations may have better benefits, but they usually pay poorly and you always have to outperform your coworkers to keep your job. Who needs the added stress of worrying about your job when you already have the stress of keeping up with your workload? This is America. We should work together to improve our country at the expense of the rest of the world. Foreigners do not deserve the American Dream.

I’ve been working for Thomson Reuters for a few years, and it is a great compnay to work for. Collegial atmosphere, good bene’s/vaca, and matching 401k.

EDWARD JONES SHOULD NOT BE ONE OF THE TOP 100 COMPANIES TO WORK FOR. THE PAY IS HORRIFIC AND THE ONLY ONE PEOPLE WHO ARE RECOGNIZED ARE THE FINANCIAL ADVISORS NOT THE BOA’S. THE BOA’S COMPLAINTS ARE NOT ADDRESSED,ONLY THE FINANCIAL ADVISORS ARE.THE BOA’S ARE INSANELY OVERWORKED(TO THE POINT WHERE I COULDN’T EVEN EAT LUNCH), UNDERPAID AND DISRESPECTED. I SHOULD KNOW I WAS ONE OF THEM FOR 9 MONTHS AND WAS LOOKING FOR A JOB A MONTH AFTER I STARTED. I WANTED THE HECK OUT OF THERE AS SOON AS I COULD ! I HAD 30 YEARS FINANCIAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD, 20 MORE YEARS THAN MY FINANCIAL ADIVSOR AND SHE HATED IT! I FINALLY HAD ENOUGH OF HER AND LISTENING TO HER PATHETIC LIFE STORIES, COMPLAINTS AND NONSENSE AND WALKED OUT. HUMAN RESOURCES AT EJ IS ANOTHER JOKE. I WROTE A 10 PAGE COMPLAINT ABOUT HOW BAD I WAS TREATED BY MY FA AND THEY NEVER CONFRONTED HER OR CORRECTED THE SITUATION. THEY STICK UP FOR THE FINANCIAL ADVISOR SINCE THEY ARE THE ONES BRINGING IN THE MONEY, THEY NEVER STICK UP FOR THE BRANCH OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR.(B0A). “THE ONE WHO DOES IT ALL”
NOW THAT I AM GONE, I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER !

Coming from an HR standpoint, I understand that the only companies that enter these “surveys” are paying to be entered at all. Then, if employees do not respond enough, your votes don’t tally. So, the winners are probably paying money to get in the survey, and are ensuring that positive employees fill out the surveys. And the other posts are right: there are better companies out there… Costco, Zappos … places that I have heard first-hand positive responses from….
This is what college students graduating look at. They think these 100 companies are THE place to work. Unfortunately, they take jobs there and have to learn the hard way that it’s better to look a little harder for an employer. Wish someone had taught me about the real world when I was in college!

Apple is located in Cupertino (the bay area, which is a very expensive area) and, when I lived there, it was very difficult to acquire a job there. Hope this helps Anonymous.

Hi Thomas,

I was asked to resign my full-time position when our daughter was diagnosed with an incurable, life-threatening illness due to the fact I could no longer accommodate them with a 40+ hour work week. All that Corporate America cares about is profit! Go figure there is no employee loyalty with the way employees are treated. We are no longer valued as people that have feelings, lives, or medical conditions that require time away from work especially when you have spent years busting your butt to meet their outrageous deadlines! I have always given 150% but after years of always being there for my employer, where are they when I needed a little compassion? I can see that telecommuting will, very soon, become a reality due to the treatment of employees, the lack of pension plans and payraises that keep up with the cost of living, as well as unaffordability of gas, to mention a few. At some point I have to return to a part-time job, but how long will it last when the company realizes my daughter comes first and requires many hospitalizations (23 since January 2006); it is difficult tending to a job when I should be at the hospital with my daughter speaking to the specialists and ensuring her care is appropriate for her illness. There are organizations that will protect her, because she is disabled, if she ever goes to work, however, there is nothing to protect the working parents. My experiences have been the more you are there the more the employer becomes spoiled by that and when you need time away, they make you feel as if you have inconvenienced them greatly and how dare you.

Kimley Horn – I’d have to agree with the other folks here…they tout themselves as high & mighty yet they are laying people off left and right. They make it on this list, they make it on CE NEWS Best Places To Work and they walk around like they are high and mighty. These contests are pure marketing ploys, what about the hundreds of thousands of companies that do not apply for these contests that are often better? Kimley Horn also is a cult. You talk to ANYONE there and it is so weird, they all say the same thing, how they could not imagine working at a better company, its so great, bla bla bla…how great is it now that they are laying so many people off???

Where’s Apple?!?!

Well to all of you who posted a comment…THANKS!!! I was recently layed-off from a major corporation: HOME DEPOT!! Glad to see they aren’t on the best 100!!! They treat thier employees as if we were yesterday’s news. No respect, consideration or motivation (except when it comes to using you as a profit builder). Where is America going in the job market? Are employees no longer valued as people that have feelings and lives?
Perhaps I should follow some recent advise and become a “Corporate Motivational Speaker” and get the upper guru’s to understand were are humans!! I’m a female that was treated poorly for being in a good-ole-boy network trying to earn a living to support my family. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO CORPORATE AMERICA???

Cisco Systems – I agree that Cisco is a great company to work for however if you work for Linksys which is a division of Cisco, you are not so lucky! At Linksys we were allowed some of the Cisco benefits – PTO, health benefits etc however management did a terrible job at communicating with staff or anyone for that matter, morale was low etc etc – there is a big reason there are a lot of job openings and growth is not one of them!

The comment about Baptist Health Systems was obviously written by someone who works for a union. You guys are just drooling over the dues you’ll put into your pockets and nothing more. A union is just the same as any other money grubbing for-profit corporation. The employees are always second.

I can’t believe Costco is not in there with their great pay, benefits and support of employee development.

Nugget Markets…. they keep moving up, but did you know they only give the surveys to the employees with recent raises/promotions or employees that have been coached what to say? I have heard this from several people in the company, its pretty disgusting how companies are manipulating ratings like this.

I can’t believe Baptist Health Systems is in the top 100. They treat their nurses badly. This is why there are 500 nurse Vacancies. We are slowly moving off this list. We need to unionize. Things at BHM are not good. I don”t think administration cares how bad it is.

Actually Koch does not get overlooked due to thier private status. For instance, Quicken Loans is a private company and happens to be #2. The reason Koch is not mentioned, is that they run too many companies to get a great sense of culture for the employees. It is all too feasible. It is a great company though.

Quicken Loans at #2? Are you serious? New employees are routinely worked to death pitching loans (60 hrs. per week is about the minimum, and any attempts to leave earlier (work a 9 hour day) are viewed with contempt and disgust by their superiors. Any “troublemakers” within the company will not be on any promotion lists during their time with the company.

Quicken number 2? The bribes need to stop, that is a terrible place to work.

Regarding your rating on Mayo Clinic. Mayo is certainly a great organization but like any organization has it’s shortcomings. Employee satisfaction at Mayo is not as positive as you would expect given the turnover rate and selection selectivity they allude to. A number of Mayo employees are not satisfied but afraid to speak up because of fear of retribution. This is from Mayo’s internal employee survey results. The physician led/top down mentality is certainly not typical of most collaborative healthcare environments and many employees don’t contribute to their maximum potential. They speak of a 12% minority workforce but they don’t speak to the unfriendly environment for minorities. The local environment, by a study they were a co-sponsor of, goes beyond unfriendly to overtly racist. Finally, regarding the comment on “hire for life.” This reflects more than the environment at Mayo. The hospital is isolated so there are limited opportunities to move to other facilities if dissatisfied. The low cost of living in Rochester and the relative high salaries at Mayo make enjoying a similar quality of life elsewhere unlikely so people hesitate to leave, particulary families. Finally, Mayo has an almost cultish environment and if you are socialized into this environment, and have never worked elsewhere, you can’t imagine leaving. In many employees minds the “Mayo way” is the only way. To sum it up, great place to work if you don’t mind being a cog in the wheel, at the factory in a large factory town.

Has anyone worked for either Firstsource or Medplans Partners? I am looking at a potential job and can’t find out anything about it being bad or good.It’s 100% commission. Any reviews

Koch Industries, being the largest privately held company in America, gets overlooked by these lists because of their private status. Koch companies employ over 80,000 people worldwide and have a presence in nearly 60 countries. Companies within the Koch companies include Georgia-Pacific (Brawny, Quilted Northern, Dixie) and INVISTA (Lycra, Stainmaster, Coolmax).

Have you ever seen an entire store completely devoid of hope? Go into a FedEx Kinko’s and speak to the employees. In the last half of FY08, many full-time employees have had their hours cut down to the minimum 32 hours and lower. This causes employees to run the risk of losing their benefits, as an average of 32 hours is required to maintain them. How does a company make this list after taking a full 32 hours per month away from it’s employees? How does that make a company good to work for? FedEx knows that in this declining economy that they have their employees between a rock and a hard place. Employees are paid just enough that the liklihood of finding similar pay elsewhere is unlikely, allowing FedEx to cut hours and benefits and still keep their employees. Please, Please, Please someone investigate this. It will be a hard topic to cover, as FedEx will most definately retaliate on any employee that speaks out. And yes, I am afraid personally of retaliation, but I am fed up and someone needs to say these things. Getting employees to openly reveal their identity will be a challenge, as most of us fear losing our jobs. They (FedEx Kinko’s upper management) are either corrupt or completely misguided and cover this up with frilly little perks, but it is not enough to eradicate the abuse we take on the floor in our retail stores. They tell us we are important, then cut our hours and make it impossible to earn the quarterly bonus. If there was anyway that the powers-that-be at CNN could expose this behaviour, maybe that would publicly force FedEx Kinko’s upper management to change this. I have worked for this company since 2001, before the FedEx purchase. While it is true that things were bad before, it is pure chaos now. And what really bites the big one is that I love the actual duties of my job. I love creating documents and helping people. I do not love how the company treats us so badly, while at the same time telling influential groups like CNNMoney that we are treated well. We are hopeless and will likely have to take lower paying jobs just to reduce this feeling of being kicked like a dog. I have considered contacting the local media, but maybe contacting CNNMoney will do the trick.

If you are on the retail banking side of JPMorgan Chase, you are stuck in the retail banking side. They are quick to promote growth opportunities, but really it means only within your job family. I received my Finance degree while working as a teller, and I couldn’t find any position they would even interview me for besides in retail once I graduated. Now I’m stuck in the personal banker postion which is a bunch of SCRIPTS you MUST say to customers or heaven forbid your District Manager has to role play with you so that you get it right. It feels so fake and I can’t wait to find another job. If you don’t mind not having a ‘mind of your own,’ then by all means the position is right for you.

I don’t think there’s a company out there that can make every employee happy. It’s why I’m self-employed. I have a super boss (me), great benefits (that I choose myself), a wonderful location (home), good pay )(commensurate with my performance),and I don’t have to put up with any corporate politics.

Kings Daughters Medical Center is THE WORST hospital I have ever worked for in my 13+ years of nursing.

Kimley-Horn and Assoc.-
1) They have an almost non-existant 401 K policy.
2) 30% of the work force was laid off this year (2008) and no compensation was given of any form. More lay offs are expected.
3) The bonus program is basically a smoke screen. The base pay for every position is below the national median and they make up for it in year end bonuses depending on how the company performs. So there is no guarantee you will get your due come Christmas. No gifts from Santa for 2008!

Wegmans is an awful place to work! they treat any night time employee like a piece of garbage! there is no respect at all in that company. the only reason people say they like that place is because they will get sent to the managers office and written up if they say otherwise. the “visits” by the Wegmans are just another reason for the mangaers to ride the employees harder and harder. then once they leave the mangers go back to treating the employees like trash. no one talks to each other the day crew and night crew have no idea what the other is doing so there is mass confusion all the time. the customers are extremely rude as well, when you are in an aisle trying to stock the shelves, these fat, ignorant people come barreling towards you and push and shove to get by and when you try to move they act like you are in their way, and heaven forbid you dont know where something is! if you tell them that you are unsure where something is, then they go to the manager and then the manager reams you out in front of everybody. oh and as a side note, 400 surverys is nowhere near enough to get an accurate idea of a company. a company with several hundred thousand people working there doesnt mean anything. if you want an accurate idea about Wegmans, ask someone who works for a living and not a manager that sits around all day behind a desk.

Beta from Daytona Beach Fl,

I had to do an assignment about the 100 top companies to work.
I see that Goggle again is #1 on the rank, I study business and I would love to work for goggle company, because the Internet is the best job you can work for. That will be my honer if I that chance to work for goggle.

Microsoft…are you kidding??? As a previous employee, I can tell you that this is absolutely not true. Used to be an awesome company to work for, but now…not so much. All the “old timers” are bailing like rats off sinking ship, and they can’t backfill positions quick enough. CNN, you need to do your research next time…

The most important thing I look for in a company is how they treat their employees and costumers. If sales and money is the most important thing to them then they aren’t worth working for in my book. Life needs to be about more than money because there is too much of that in this world.

I am puzzled as to how Paychex makes this list year after year. When I worked there the majority of Salespeople were unhappy. Turnover was very high and there was a genuine distrust for Sales Management. It was churn and burn in a way that I thought was long gone.

As an employee at MITRE, I can tell you that being on this list for six years in a row has made the company complacent. Each year, I see higher qualified people leaving and lesser qualified people being hired. The retention rate is skewed because so many of our employees are government or military retirees working on their second career and are unlikely to switch jobs.

Overhead budgets are continuously chopped despite the fact we are federally funded and not subject to the same economic fluctuations as for-profits.

In-house training opportunities are mainly IT-related, so anyone not in those fields is relegated to externally-held courses which are obviously more expensive and harder to get approved. In three years I’ve been to one 2-day in-house training course which was marginally related to my job, because it was all I could get approved for while being pressured for not taking training.

A recent employee survey had 49% of employees stating that they felt promotions went to those who deserved them.

MITRE is still a good place to work, but it’s getting worse every year.

Let us hope that the people that pick these companies talk to some of the 25% of the staff of Kimley-Horn that were recently laid off with no severance and an assistance package that consisted of “if you need help with your resume call us”. In addition they have a very nasty restriction in their 401k plan that limits you to only acessing the first 50k of your vested company matching and pension benefits for a period of 5 years….even if you are a year from retirement.

As a past HR Director for a company that has been recognized as one of the top three “Great Place(s) to Work” in its state three years in a row, I’m skeptical of the usefulness and “full picture” value of these surveys. Because they shared their deep concerns about responding to this survey, I am aware that the majority of the emloyees felt compelled to lie because they did not believe their answers were truly anonymous. The executive management misrepresented the company’s turnover rate and glossed over true company benefits on it’s section of the survey. The morale in this company is dismal; the employees feel depressed and trapped; there is no trust or respect for the executive “leadership” who bully their employees. The corporate culture is like a house infested with termites: the facade and landscaping look wonderful. Tear up the floors and sheetrock and you will find a foundation and structure seriously compromised. This company’s consistent recognition as a “Great Place to Work” is an unfortunate reinforcement to management that it can manipulate responses to the survey and sustain a tyranny that makes the company one of the Worse Places to Work.

Are these just publically traded firms? I know most of the country tends to forget about Vermont companies, but Burton Snowboards is one of the greatest places to work. Skateboard and snowboard ramps outside work, free seasons pass to local mountains, great benefits, and meetings on the slopes. Plus 2ft or more at the office and we are closed for the day. GO RIDE

GOOGLE should not be on this list.
I see you guys put performance of the company before anything else.

The perks are just a smoke screen. Seriously. I used to work there and it was like propaganda…they used to TELL us to spread the word constantly to our friends, etc. about the FREE FOOD! MASSAGES! etc.

First, if you want to do well at the company you can’t take a long lunch. Taking more than half an hour is looked down upon. And you just end up eating at your desk. It’s there, but not really there. As for massages, there’s a 6 month wait list to even schedule one and by the time it rolls around there’s a 90% chance that you won’t be able to make it because of a scheduled meeting, etc.

Lastly, the managers are horrendous. There is no internal system of reviewing them. I’ve heard horror stories.

Read this article below:

http://valleywag.com/tag/tracy_lee-blumberg/

And this one, about how they LIE:

http://valleywag.com/363326/google-dresses-up-job-listings-for-crappy-jobs

It’s really not as great as they make it out to seem…All the press you read about is just Google’s PR department doing a GREAT job at spinning this story.

National City Bank is one of the worst places to work for. No support from Human Resource Department whether payroll question or procedural concerns. No consistancy of enforcement of company policy. Management lacks accountibilty for poor human relations practices.

Nordstrom isn’t all that it is made out to be. Sales positions are 100% commission and the commission is dependent ON the department (so certian departments make a higher percentage than others). Constant turnover means constant rescheduling. The reason it is seen as a “good place” for women is because women tend to work in lower paid positions – and at 100% commissions in a recessionary economy, what do you expect?

the store i’ve worked at has been open about a year. i’d say we have had over a 100% turn over. being in grad school, it works for me. the insurance is ok – but if you don’t work a certian number of hours, you pay cobra for the next month. for retail, if you want a known salary, stick with the gap. if you can gamble a bit, nordstrom’s is ok – but it isn’t a top company. unless everybody else really is much worse. it takes close to 2 years to earn a weeks vacation at nordstrom. it really isn’t a top place to work full time. part time maybe, because you can get health insurance.

Convergys is on this list mainly as a continuation. It’s a grim place, poorly managed and run.

I agree with the Nordstrom Detroit’s comment. As long as any employer can get away with treating employees as disposable, they will, especially in a depressed retail market. SHAME on Nordstrom’s executives for allowing their department managers take away from very, very good salespeople. As a consumer, I will make sure I deal with “floor” sales employees only.

Here, Here for Edward Jones! Our culture focuses on people helping people from partners to associates and associates to clients.

Sears Holdings Corp,. this company is one of the worst companies to work for (of course this is after the Merge with Kmart) Before it was GREAT you could take LUNCH break, work out if you wanted to, in other words it was just the right place to be at. Now is nothing but the stress everywhere, you cant even leave at a decent time if you do happen to leave you are not a Team Player. I miss the old sears.

Home Depot was a great place to work, until the GE brains took over, we now do more with less…less pay, less in benefits, less associates on the floor, we need Bernie and Arthur back.

Nordstrom – You’ve got to be kidding or somehow obtaining misleading information. How about their use of the achiaoc point system, whimsical start time changes to 4:00 Am – many employees cannot get day care at those times, call in for weekly shift change and probably worst of all “No Sick Time” with points given for having to go home sick! Your ranking of this company in the top 1000 would be a huge disservice to your readers.

I worked for the norstrom in Troy and I never had a problem meeting my sales. I think that Nordstrom is a great place to work.

I used to work for Starbucks – childcare? fitness center??? What nutjob did the research for this list? I suppose working at the corporate level must be nice, but maybe Joe Average should be considered when talking about the best companies to work for – someone has to actually make and sell the coffee, right?

Nordstrom Detroit is very Difficult to work for.. High turnover! 100% commission and you do all the stock work which cuts into your floor time at least 15% of your day. Managers are selling all day long and they are on salary/plus commission. With the weak economy and extremely long hours, no wonder people quit, can’t make quota, or get fired due to not making numbers. What worse is the Managers pick the best hours to work and leave the minimal hours to the rest of us. Maybe they should look closer at who they hire as Managers. The benefits are good except when they can’t give you full hours so it cost you over 400.00/1000.00 a month. (you have to pay cobra rates) Thats a hard hit in retail. Can’t feed a family when your bringing in 200.00 a week. (and thats before taxes. Sometimes you work 8 days in a row but only 5 hour shifts!!! Most Nordstrom’s stores have their own stock people to do the work we commission people are doing here in Detroit. When you think about it the stock time alone is saving this divisions just 1 person a day in our area. Thats only 16,0000 a year. We as commission reps could make that up in sales by being on the floor with in a month. Unbelievable!!!!!!

I can vouch for General Mills – it has been a great company to work for. The people are friendly, the executives are always accessible, and there is an expectation by management and employees that if you do your job, do it well and keep a positive attitude – you will be compensated accordingly. And everyone loves the Pillsbury dough boy and Betty Crocker!

I wish I was getting the domestic partnership benefits that FedEx clasim they offer their employees. I guess you have to live in San Francisco where local law forces that to happen. The rest of the country is not part of that program.

I just celebrated 25 years with Fedex and have always enjoyed the many benefits. Unfortunately, domestic partnership benefits are only enjoyed by those working in San Francisco under penalty of law. Fedex tried everything to avoid giving those benefits. I would have to disagree that they are a non-discriminatory company, as far as sexual diversity goes.

Responding to Mary, McLean, VA, on Feb 11:

Indeed, once one reaches the Associate (mid-level management) level, the only way to receive a significant raise is to be promoted. Unfortunately, the procedure for being promoted above Associate is qualitatively different from that required to be promoted up to Associate. It is based on a “business need,” rather than skill or past performance. However, the designation of business need can vary significantly. I knew of instances in which two Sr. Associates (the step above Associate) were assigned to a contract worth a few million dollars over 10 years, while a $100 million dollar contract over 10 years struggled to seethe Associate running the show promoted to Sr. Associate, despite outstanding performance etc.

The organization is very heavy in the midsection and promotion beyond Associate should definitely not be assumed.

As for vesting, check out BCG for a counterpoint. They offer 100% vesting in the retirement fund (profit sharing) at the end of every single calendar year. Booz Allen may be better than some, but its program is certainly not competitive with the upper-tier of consulting firms.

i worked for jcpenney for 12 yrs the worst company possible.they had all the employees on production that was so high that you could not reach their goals.you had to work under so much stress it was awful.how do companys like this get to the top,by putting their employees through ,well you know what.they care nothing about the employees,its only about the allmighty dollar.and they care nothing about customer service any more.look at walmart as an example,they have 30 lines and they only have 5 open,bottom line these companys care nothing about people,its about what the ceo”s can put in their pockets,and the people at the bottom get paid crumbs.

Let’s get to the essence of these types of surveys with a pertinent question.

What’s the difference between Corporate America and the Boy Scouts of America?

Answer: The Boy Scouts of America have adult leadership!!

Shalom! I work for FedEx Express. I am glad to see that they have returned. It is the best company to work for. I am an adult student and the FedEx tuition program has been a great help. There are more benefits to working for this incredible company. I am thankful to God for giving me this job.

I work for FedEx Kinko’s (which is FedEx) and have to say for the life of me, I have no idea how FedEx made this list. When people heard FedEx was going to buy Kinko’s, everybody thought it was great because Kinko’s had been going down the tubes for years. They treated their employees horribly. Guess what. FedEx didn’t just keep that trend going, it accelerated it. They doubled our workload and, at the same time, took away the number of people we could do it with. Upper management is a joke. They are so incompetent that I don’t think it even classifies at incompetence at this point. They don’t put their people first or even last. They just don’t consider them at all.

If anyone ever wonders why they get bad service at FedEx Kinko’s, consider this: You’re either working with someone who is getting paid less than someone at McDonald’s while being expected to have more responsibility, or you’re dealing with someone who has absolutely no idea what they’re doing, or both.

I was with Kinko’s for 7 years and left for 2. Now I’m back and it’s worse than when I left. The ideas coming out of upper management makes you wonder if they don’t just take a bunch of ideas, put them on a wall, then have monkeys come in to throw feces at the wall. Whatever it sticks to is what they go with.

So, like I said, I wonder just how in the world these buffoons made this list. Fortune obviously didn’t survey “real” employees. Apparently they only surveyed the brown-nosing management types looking for promotion within this truly crappy company.

I work for Publix. They are a great company with strong values, a great customer service ethic, and they take care of their employees. I am glad to have been hired by one of the Top 100 companies in 2008.

I would like to see more detailed information about Best Practices and HR practices brought forth in articles during the coming months.

How FedEx returned to this list is utterly amazing. They have lost focus on their PSP (People-Service-Profit)philosophy and the “People” are about the last thing that matter anymore. As they dropped off previously, their return will most likely be short lived unless they get back to their long standing philosophy, which the highest of management understands, but below that, is a lost art. Very sad indeed, this was once a proud company to work for. Many have lost faith.

The posting here regarding Edward Jones employment must have derived from financial advisors, not the BOAs, the Branch Office Assistant. Yes, for financial advisors who are willing to work and adhere to the Jones-way, can reap multitude awards and personal satisfaction. The BOA position, a one-down position, is not as rewardable; that is, if the BOA works for a financial advisor who really does appreciate her, respects her, and communicates effectively, the BOA position is then one to possess despite the low pay wages. Too often, the BOA experiences emotional, and sometimes sexual harrassement, for which the financial advisor will always win. As for Edward Jones being “100 Best Companies to Work For,”the survey reflects financial advisor ratings, not BOAs.

Dell is the worst company to wrok for in the large corp arena. There are absolutely no perks left anymore, pay has decreased the last three years, morale is terrible, turnover extremely high, and Wall Street is down on profits for the company. My prediction, Dell is a Chinese co in three years.

I worked for UPS for almost 12 years and left because of my feeling that the company had become too large and had lost focus of what made Brown successful – their people. You got the feeling that Brown would keep right on rolling with or without you. Likewise, I went to work for FedEx and have never looked back. You simply cannot compare the two companies. FedEx’s philosophy of people, service, profit truly make FedEx an ideal place to work. The job is tough but you aren’t made to feel like just a number. Rather, you are made to feel that your contributions are alsolutely necessary to the company’s success and the culture supports this in every way. I love it.

I worked for this company for over six years. It is not the same. Over-expansion has completely ruined what used to make it great. There is no time to properly train new staff and the quality suffers because of it. They got greedy.

Quicken Loans has an unusually attrition rate in its most common job position, “mortgage banker”. It has had this high attrition rate for the last several years it has been included in the top 100. This does not seem to be mentioned or included as part of the rankings calculation. Is the high attrition an industry standard or unique to Quicken Loans. How is a company with high turn over a great place to work???

Recently, The Container Store was named one of Fortune’s Top 100 Companies to Work For for the 9th year in a row. Let me just say… I wholeheartedly agree. I worked at the Container Store (part-time) about 6 years ago for 1 1/2 years and then quit to move on to a “real job” full-time as my parents called it. Since then, I got married, moved, then moved again. At the first opportunity I got to work in retail (part-time) again, I found myself back at The Container Store! I couldn’t imagine working for any other retailer… EVER! My list of why, could be a mile long… so I’ll just name my absolute 2 favorites: 1) the PEOPLE and 2) the POWER! The first speaks for itself… the second just speaks to the fact that the unwritten policy is to “decide what you think is best and do it!” Of course, they hire employees with the brains to be able to do this well… but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I love it!

Nordstrom at #36??? Avg pay is only $35k/yr (full time), 100% commission = widely varing paychecks (Jan/Feb are pathetic), benefits are nowhere near #36 (health insurance deductable is $900-$1,800 out of pocket for a family), hours are retail (Sat/Sun/Holidays), work schedules constantly change, sales goals are unrealistic (not one person made Top Achiever sales goals in 07 at our store). Just like most employeers……it is profit before personnel. I truly have no axe to grind.

I am so proud that Herman Miller, Inc. made this list. Our employees are some of the most generous around, with both their time and money. Our overall environmental and social consciousness sets us apart from anyone else in our industry, as does our performance and unique culture. Great benefits only add to a company that truly does care about its employees… and makes Herman Miller a great place to work. Oh, and our furniture is just too cool!

I work for Fedex and I sure wish I participated in this survey. I assure you that every fedex employee in my building wishes they participated as well. I have been a courier with fedex for almost 2 years now, and I can tell you that this has been the WORST job I have EVER had! When I first started there veteran employees of 10+ years consistantly warned me to find a differant job because over the last 5 years Fedex has become an extremely Difficult company to work for! I did not take the advice of these veteran employees and I have been regretting it to this day! I want to make it known that I decided to work for Fedex because I expected it to be a very long and positive career. I had nothing but high expectations, but I have been so dissapointed and to be very honest I feel like I have just got “Beaten Up” for the last 2 years of working for them! They have lied to me about Pay increases, 401 k contributions, paid time off and many other important company policy details. Since I have begun working there they have decreased our work hours increased out health care costs every year and actually DEMAND that we work harder then they already push us to the brink of physical breakdown! Every month during our group meetings we are told to put out more effort to locate more business because they are struggling, also that our on road production expectaions are being raised but we are not given vital equipment to come close to the impossible expectaions! Can you believe that I drive on my route almost 75% of the time without a hand truck or any supplies stocked in the broken down trucks they provide us as couriers! Then last year they posted record breaking profits, but we as employees didnt get 1 cent in the “profit sharing” portion of our benefits! I have been told that it has been over 5 years since the last time any Fedex courier recieved any money form the “profit sharing benefit program” I cant understand how Fedex made your list of top companies to work for! I guarantee if you would pole my building 95% of the 150+ employees would tell you just how horrible an experiance working for fedex has been!! I ask most of them all the time why they still work there for so long in such a bad working enviornment, and everyone answers the same way “they can’t afford to quit due to having families to provide for”. I am fortunate enough to not have a family to provide for, and these past 2 years have been a nightmare I hope to wake up from very soon! I hope this gets posted so any potential new employees hoping to work for Fedex gets to read whats really going on there!

The “% voluntary turnover” rates seem rather high for “best companies to work for”.

Are you aware that Quicken Loans has laid off 1000 people in the last few months without warning??? Please do more research before you rank them #2!!!!!!!!

FEDEX used to be a GREAT place to work. For the CORPORATE employees, I guess it still is. If you are a worker at the bottom of the pile(like a courier), you have received a 2% cost of living increase(on average per year) in the last 18 years. In the early 1990’s, we got no cost of living increase for a number of years. With upper mgmt, corporate employees and pilots making hundreds of thousands a year, I guess there is not enough left over to pay those at the bottom(picking up and delivering the pkgs that customers are paying us to do) more than $42,000. a year.

I think that Saturn should be on this list. More specifically Saturn of St. Paul, but at very least, Saturn. It’s an amazing place to work, look into it!

Starbucks is a good company if you are in the corporate level. If you are a student, this job is good for you because the hours are flexible. But, if the store is slow and you want more hours? you might not get it because most store’s send people home because to cut labor.

I worked for Starbucks for 5 years and worked my way up to a supervisor. Benefits is really good with this company but if you want to work a full 40 hours a week? good luck with that. You might have to jump from one store to another just to get almost 40 hours a week. The said coordinator made 30k? My pay is not even $11 after working for 5 years. Pay raise are only cents.. This company is good but pay is not all that good.

We were reading your “Top 100 Places to Work” on a flight to Playa del Carmen to celebrate our 5th annual top salesperson’s incentive trip. It was impossible not to note what a wonderful company PromoShop, Inc. is to work for. PromoShop, Inc. is a privately owned, certified minority owned promotional products company, headquartered in Los Angeles. Every year, top salespeople are whisked away to enjoy a long weekend of rest and relaxation. Previous destinations have included the One and Only Palmilla, Tamarindo resort and Hotelito Desconoscido- all along the beaches of Mexico. This year, 22 of us were treated like royalty at The Tides resort in Playa del Carmen. PromoShop also offers 401K, health and dental insurance, recycling programs, monthly employee recognition events and ample opportunity to help with various charities.

Navy Federal offers great benefits to even part-timers including a 401k with 6% matching, free medical, and cheap dental and vision coverage. The pay is not too shabby either compared to its competitors.

However, as a part-time worker, you work approximately 25 hours a week but are expected to have your entire week cleared in order to accommodate the varying hours of the position. In addition, to not being able to compromise your work schedule, my branch just implemented a no switching policy, which makes it even more difficult to control your schedule. It’s no surprise that my branch has and I expect will continue to experience high turnover of part-time workers. It’s a wonder they would rather spend money training new employees rather than try to retain the ones they have.

FedEx loves to promote it’s PSP philosophy…People, Service, Profit. Unfortunately people and service have left the equation. Profit is the only thing that matters, and with that dropping fast, there won’t be much of this company left to rate.

Booz Allen can be a great company for people with advanced degrees and a fair amount (10 years or so) of experience. I love Booz Allen, but Tom does have a point concerning people who are topped out at their level. The only way for me to get a cost of living raise is to get promoted. I’m currently working out a detailed and aggressive plan with my management team to do that, but I’m sure it can be very frustrating for people who are topped out at Level 3 and don’t have supportive management.

I have an advanced degree in my field and find that the internal training is useful for increasing your knowledge into other areas, but then I’m also on a technical track. It may be different for non-technical people.

Also, regarding the vesting schedule for the 401K contribution– that’s pretty standard for the industry. No one lets you walk away with 100% of the “match” without any vesting time. I assume that Tom hasn’t worked at many other companies in that industry. I have and BAH is one of the best.

From a client perspective, Plante & Moran can offer a lot of value and I would describe most employees as talented in his/her field of work. This is a firm I would consider hiring if I owned or managed a business.

I do recognize that public accounting isn’t for everyone. The long hours, pressure to satisfy clients and managers, and the mediocre pay is hard work and it can be very technical. However, I do not believe Plante is better than any of the Big Four firms out there. It is not a “jerk-free” environment like they say it is and they do not always follow the “golden rule” (do on to others as you have them do onto you). My advice to the college grad looking to work in public accounting: try to get into a Big Four firm first and then Plante. Big Four experience pays more when you go into industry. If you do go to Plante, avoid working on the bank team as if it were the plague (very political, backstabbing, and high-turnover). I’m not sayint this is a bad firm, but lets keep it real.

Keep in mind that these surveys list information from companies that provided it. Many companies, like Costco Wholesale, have great benefits, good hourly pay, and great programs, etc, bot choose not to participate in these types of things.

I am not sure about all these companies that are the best. Every company has its flaws and biases. No company is a utopia for anyone.

I usually change companies every 5-6 years. I have seen all kinds of things happening in companies including racial, gender bias. So dont ever say that if a person is disgrunted he is a under performer and not a cultural fit. Some of the best minds in the world quit companies and turned out to be stars. So i am sure they are not underperformers and if so they would not have made it to the top. Just my 2 cents

I think McDonalds needs to be on this list somewhere and no I am not kidding. I have worked for McDonalds for over 10 years. My father in law owns the store and he has owned it for 20 years now. He started working for McDonalds back when he was a teenager peeling potatoes in the basement and he worked his way to the top! I have seen many people come and go in our particular store. McDonalds and other fast food companies give many people thier start. There is a commercial that aired a few years back that showed many famous people and doctors and lawyers who all got thier start at McDonalds. People look down on us all the time. But when you are in college full time and have to work nights to pay for your tuition or bills and don’t have any experience at anything, you are fresh out of highschool, who do you go to to get a job! McDonalds is always striving to make sure our employees are taken care of. I think McDonalds needs to be on the list. I am sure if you asked those that work at any of the companies on your list you will get many people who say they too started out at McDonalds! Thank you!

Did anyone think to check out the online blogs regarding Quicken Loans? Check out ripoffreport.com and you will see tons of info from disgruntled employees.

Why is National Instruments on this list? They’re known for low salaries, for hiring H1B’s instead of hiring domestically, and for replacing experienced positions with not-so-equivalent new college hires.

As an employee of Ohio Health, I find myself puzzled at just how it made the “Top 100″, let alone 18th place on your list. It is apparent that Ohio Health employees were interviewed before our insurance premiums were raised and our choice of insurance plans was limited to one plan.

I worked for REI for almost five years. It was the worst experiecne in my life. It was a boys culb and women were treated as a sub class.
Sally Smoot

To those of you posting to complain about how this company or that company could make the “list”, let’s take a look:

Fact: FORTUNE goes to great lengths to determine how the EMPLOYEES feel about the company. They mandate that management allows them to independently interview a minimum of 400 employees. chosen randomly by FORTUNE. I believe that these independent survey results form the biggest criteria in assessing who makes the “list”. Yes, access to laptops. health benefits, vacation, and other benefits all play a role, but no company can make the list unless they excel at employee satisfaction. And isn’t that the point? Now I’m not a statistician, but I believe that 400+ completed surveys probably assures a pretty statistically valid sample size.

I work for one of the top companies and couldn’t be happier. And I can say that as a manager, there were no “orders” from above to try to bias the answers that associates gave. There was not even an awareness of who took the surveys. Is this company perfect in every way? No. But, wow what a difference from our competitors.

Can we find disgruntled employees at a top rated company? Yes! Does that diminish that a high percentage of employees still believe the company is great? No! It just shows that someone is either not performing, or not a good cultural fit for that company. As one of the posts state, just because a company is top rated doesn’t mean everyone will love working there. But it is a pretty good indicator.

Second, a number of folks complained about the long hours at law/accounting firms, asking how they could be considered a great place to work. Early in my career I worked for KPMG, and having many friends who are in the legal profession, long hours are for the most part a reality in those professions. It was the primary reason I left that field. But, professionals in those fields know that when they start their careers. So. it isn’t too surprising that they are rating their experiences compared to what they know life is like at their competitors. Again, the key is knowing what you are getting into. It’s a business fact that if you work for a CPA firm, you are probably going to work long hours from January through April. So, if you really enjoy taking vacations in the middle of the winter, it probably isn’t going to happen. If that’s a deal killer, consider a different industry.

Nice to see REI on the list, as it has been every year. It is refreshing to work at a co-op as opposed to a public company retailer. We can do so much more for the members (customers) and the employees. REI is a great place to be.

Bright Horizons? I haven’t had a raise in a year and a half. When I had a personal conflict with the schedule and explained it to my boss, she said, “Bright Horizons doesn’t care about your home life.” I do not feel appreciated there. The company took over our “mom and pop” organization two years ago and it has struggled ever since.

Four Seasons is the worse place I have worked in a long time. They do not care about employees, they treat them like clones and expect you to act like a clone with no personality. They are into the “brain washing”, you are just a number, not a person. Bad attitudes from co-workers who think they are top notch because they work for “Four Seasons”. I can’t say enough about the atmosphere for employees. It may be a high priced place to stay and may be good for guests,,but certainly not for employees.

I’m not totally surprised to see SRA on the list. I was an SRA employee for 3 years. The time I spent working at an SRA office was great. I felt as if I was truly lucky to work there, was treated like a professional and had great office environment.

Then I was moved to a client site when my contract ended. The experience was night and day. The office conditions, management, and turnover rate was horrible. People did complain to SRA but nothing was done to improve it. HR came to the site to talk with employees about the issues, but nothing came of it. It was well known that the contract brought in big money and the employees were expendable. It really was a shame and I left for another company.

I believe SRA is a top company if you work onsite, other then that my experience was VERY negative.

Just an FYI – companies sell themself to the list maker (research the process of getting on the list).

I am a former Wegmans employee and I love that they are on this list year after year. I worked part time through high school and college and got some great experience with management and training as if you put in the effort, they let you do the things that you want. It really is a great company to work for. I wish they were in the midwest and I would still probably work part time there today, just for fun! One of my favorite things about this company is that a lot of managers started out as Helping Hands or cashiers and moved their way through the company. They know what it’s like to be in a lower position, so they help you out when they can. I miss Wegmans!

I don’t know how Hank’s Bait and Tackle didnt make this list. The people there are extremely nice and knowledgeable about where to find the best catfish.

Anyone else notice this part of the Four Seasons article? “The goal is to charge the most per room… salaries between the 75th and 90th percentile”

Looks to me like it says we have the highest room rates, but pay our employees 10% to 25% less than our competitors…

Sounds greedy to me. I also wonder why the employees are so happy. I sure wouldn’t be if I was making $26k at a place that charges $300 to $500 per night!

I have worked at Wegmans for 7 years now. I have never made so much money at a job before. Not only that but I have never had an employeer care so much about me. They take the time to listen and to help and to give you the tools that you need to grow with the company. All you have to do is be willing to learn. Ive see a few comments on here questioning how Fortune comes up with the top 100 list. Every year a certain percentage in each store gets a survey. Fortune takes these answers and that counts as most of the over all score. Your employees have to be happy in order to end up on this list. Then the take into account things like safety and bennefits and training and job growth and oppertunities for advancement. I love Wegmans!

I am going into my 26th year of working for Wegmans Food Markets. I am currently a Seafood Department Manager for the John Glenn store, Liverpool, NY and I’ve been trained and worked in many aspects of the business working in other stores as well.
I honestly could not do justice to the way I feel about this family oriented company in this small space, however I need to say how really blessed I am to be a part of this team. They have helped me to grow and develop my career along with the balance of family life, along with a true appreciation of my efforts. My fondest recollection is of Bob Wegman visiting the stores and his interest in the many employees and the job they were doing. That care and concern resonates among Danny, Colleen, Nicole, Jack DePeters, and on down the line. Many of us believe they do the best they can for us, in so many ways, and they also show appreciation for the community which supports our jobs.
As for the employees, we have the best in the world, we care about each other and the customers we serve, we are a huge family and it shows.

I too am proud to be a team member at Navy Federal Credit Union.They are super to team members, and have exceptional leadership. It’s super easy to be promoted if you are doing your job correctly. It really is sad to see how many different companies have negative things being said about them, however I’m not surprised there isnt anything negative about NFCU. The good overshadows the bad anyday…

Dear MG, SD, and others.

Indeed I’m a disgruntled Booz Allen employee. The reasons leading to my current opinion of the Firm are listed plainly in the post I made earlier. This is not an emotional reaction, but rather one based on fact and observation.

Many Booz Allen employees are incredibly upbeat, and I laid out in detail which general categories of people would find the Firm best suited to their needs. I also made clear who does not fit well in the Firm. I consider myself to fall into the latter category. The reason, as I detailed below, is that Booz is great for minimally educated individuals, or those simply starting their careers with little experience.

Upbeat employees or not, the material facts I presented are unchanged. For many, myself included, these make Booz Allen a highly unattractive place to work. I simply think others should be aware of these facts, given that this list is called “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and does not provide the necessary caveats.

Yes, they pay more than the other companies but you are expected to work a minimum of 10 hours a day sometimes 12 (no overtime). If there is no work-life balance, it is a crappy company to work for (unless your work is your life).

The Delta Companies is #1 even though it is not on this list. If you haven’t heard about us, research it, and if you want, you can come take a look at our wonderful office. -Employee (10 months)

I have worked for Stew Leonards for almost a year now. And compaired to the other jobs I have held, including some at other grocery type stores. Stews is by far the best place I have ever worked. It’s not just the perks either. It’s being treated as a person instead of just another employee that really counts.

As an employee of Navy Federal Credit Union, I can not express how happy I am to hear that we finally made the list of the 100 Best places to work, because it truly is an exceptional place to work. Navy Federal should have been on the list years ago, and I am sure we will continue to make the list in the years to come. We are a company that not only beleives in our members but also in our employees, from the bottom all the way to the top. We have excellant pay and benefits package that no other company in our field can compare to. At Navy Federal it is very possible to be able to attain promotions with hard work and determination. I am Proud to say I am an employee at Navy Federal Credit Union.I am sorry to hear about some of the negative comments poted about other companies, maybe they should look into workinf for us.

I worked at SAS Institute. The company is good, but the pay information is way wrong on that list. First of all, they say Software Developer is the most common job. Since SAS has soft dev I, II, II, IV, V. I think they meant the average of all of them plus bonus. OK, but I seriously doubt that any software developer get 100k, but software developer V. And I know a lot of folks from SAS. I am positive that average pay to a software developer at SAS Headquarters in Cary North Carolina is 80K, including bonus. But not a $100K.

I have worked for Dupont 30 years and I can imagine a company better than Dupont

Did you know that Plante & Moran requires an employee to work a minimum of 2,700 hours a year to acheive a rating of proficient. How do you make partner? Work 3,000 and place Plante & Moran ahead of your family.

“All get a copy of the founder’s book, and many teams put up deskside banners or buy new recruits lunch.” Wow, now that is some place to work, a free book written by billionaire and lunch too?? My daughter works for American Century. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. CEO, several fund managers and executives have run for the hills in past last year, hasn’t made a profit in two years, violate federal workplace laws consistently, have hidden accounts contributing to the stem cell research business that the owner created. These companies submit their nominations through their public relations and advertising departments, with promotion packages sent to Fortune. No actual worker is ever interviewed or spoken to for this “award”. A jaundiced eye of creating a “best of” lists of business. This process should be reviewed and rethought by Fortune. Unfortunately, that will never happen. That would be more like work, something the subscribers/benefactors of this Fortune list are now immune to.

Like the other commentors, I too am surprised that Principle Financial Group is on this list.
The company is friendly to females but as a male, I can tell you it is not friendly to older males, minorities, or foreigners. I see minorities and foreigners come and go quickly here, and the reasons are a mixture of tone deafness in relating to minorities and foreigners and that the corporate culture unintentionally makes for difficult work conditions and relationship building. They are, and always have been really clueless on this. Hence the dismal levels.
Females are revered because they work cheap and are the ‘captive” workers that rarely go elsewhere.
PFG has their niche market – Small business likes PFG’s product because it is cheap – just enought to say to their employees – Hey we offer a 401K.
I really wouldn’t let them wash my cat Freddy let alone let them manage my money, but I have no choice as an employee.
Honestly, it’s an OK place to work, but if I could find something that paid as well close by, I’d be outta here. It’s a C+ company trying to get in the big leagues and flatlining.
They have been downgraded recently and their international (Asia) is not doing so well. I hope they are not bought out this year.

Starbucks position on here is always laughable. Ask your barista in the morning what they think. The most common hourly job is Barista, not Coordinater III. And they all make minimum wage or a dime over. We have no job sharing program, no compressed workweek, etc

Ohio Health sucks. If your not a R.N or Doctor they really could care less of you. Health Insurance went up 225% for employees in 2008. The service employee side of Ohio Health is looked upon like 2nd class citizens by higher staff.

So many blue chip companies that add tremendous value to our society are missing. Merck & Co., IBM, J&J, GE, and etc.. Law firms and consulting firms are “in” I guess.

It’s interesting that Home Depot no longer appears on any of these lists. The Bob Nardelli era is over, but the company will be paying the piper for years to come, both on the bottom line and in the dismal morale throughout the stores.

So instead of being happy that your companies made it to the Top 100 list you are complaining?

I still can’t figure out how Stastion Casinos makes this list year after year. I’ve been in the casino industry for over 11 years and have seen and heard how badly they treat their employees. They must have found a way to beat the system like they have their competitors.

Yahoo? Really?? They are so cheap they pack their employees in to clasoustrophobic workstations called “troughs”, with co-workers on either side just inches away. They live with the constant fear of lay-offs. Does any of that sound fun to you?

I cant understand why Bubba’s Plumbing isnt on this list.

The comment from the obviously disgruntled Booz Allen employee presents an unfair and warped view of the organization. I hope Tom refocuses his animosity into finding a new job with one of the other 99 companies on this list.

You have got to be kidding me. PricewaterhouseCoopers a top 100 employer? My experience with the company was awful. They use their employees up and spit them out. Absolutely no work-life balance. And it’s not just me…

I now work for a fortune 100 company (who by the way did not make this list). We are constantly hiring talent away from PwC who are burnt out and in need of change. Conversely, I cannot think of a single example of someone leaving my company to go work for PwC.

It really stands out that the top companies to work for in America are healthcare and financial services. Other than SC JOhnson, there aren’t too many manufacturing companies on the list. They have to compete globally now and can’t give perks to their employees. No retailers either.

KPMG is a joke! I don’t know one self respecting person that enjoys working for that firm! As a former employee I was laughing like crazy when I read that they made the list. 5 weeks of vacation is great but when you work 16 hrs/day, 7 days a week for the other 47 weeks, what’s the point?

I noticed that no universities made the top 100 ‘best’—I find that rather interesting.

I think Rockwell Collins should be on this list as well. Besides providing communication and navigation equipment to civilian and military aircraft and being an industry leader, they also employ almost 10,000 people in Iowa alone.

I am an employee at one of the 100 Best – and I can NOT insure my family because I am gay. Many others I work with have to make family choices that are not ideal for them or their children because of this. To see them on the 100 Best list is infuriating when you are treated as a “second class” employee. Discrimination does not deserve a pat on the back!

Hello everyone! I’ve worked for Edward Jones for 3 years. In the last 3 months I’ve made more money than I did in one year at my previous job that I worked at for 10+ years. I’m so thankful that Edward Jones gave me the opportunity to work for them. Not only that, but the education they gave me in the training program was worth it’s weight in gold. What better to learn about than money and investing? Don’t get me wrong…. It’s hard work, but but if you do the work, you get the reward. The harder you work the greater the reward. What else could you ask for in a carreer. I’ll never say annything bad about this company. World class!

FedEx is tanking due to high fuel costs and the slow economy growth, and implements “permanent part time” workers. Which means if its slow, they cut routes and hours to make their budgets and shareholders happy. But the benefits are there, don’t get me wrong. If they had union support, they would be better for the worker, like the happy UPS workers. Also, yes, their customer service phone line is terrible!! Enough said, I left on my own free will and make 3X as much now.

The Deloitte U.S. Firms are a prime example of a first-rate organization. In my opinion they should be in the top 10. Maybe next year!

I am a staff RN for Ohio Health and am proud to be a part of this company. The work is usually hard, the wages are ok, but what really makes this company a great place to work is the caring. From the Ceo, to the managers, down the line to the general staff. They all care. I have worked in health care settings for 30 years, have been here only 6 years, but this is the most caring place I have ever worked. Not only the patients are treated well, but as employees we are treated with dignity. If we have a problem, they care. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization.

I think Tom summed up Booz Allen pretty well. I disagree on one point — that your client base or business sector determines your potential for promotion. It’s the sort of thing management tells you is the reason for your stalled career.

I support many clients and divide my time between them rather than support one big client, but I too have a stalled career. I’m told the reverse of Tom’s situation, that people devoted to long-term projects promote better.

I think Cathy may have hit on the real reason — having a supportive manager who will make a business case for your promotion to the partners, who must approve any promotion.

I’ve seen lots of very capable, skilled people get leap-frogged by less qualified peers because they had a more supportive manager. As a result, managers often don’t understand what their own staff do, what value they present to the firm, and what difficulties may arise if their staff leave. This is the real reason for the large number of mid-level managers: turnover is high in the lower ranks, and few make it to the upper ranks.

I’m not surprised to see the Container Store drop in its rankings, but I don’t think that should be only because it was bought by a private equity firm last year. While TCS remains a great company to work for, with great employees and great customers, I wish Fortune would look into things like how many full-time jobs are available at the stores, vs. part-time jobs. The ratio is about 1:3 (full-time/part-time) and, although many part-timers would like to work full time and do work 35-39 hours per week during long stretches of the year, they still don’t receive the health, vacation, and other benefits that full-timers do. Fortune should also look into age discrimination in the ranks of full-timers at the stores vs. part-timers. Full-timers tend to be youngsters with “potential,” but no leadership experience or training, who are put in charge of more “seasoned” part-timers. Finally, Fortune should ask why TCS, as successful as it is, doesn’t hire a cleaning staff for its stores but requires sales staff to clean the toilets, vacuum, mop, dust, etc. at the end of each day. You don’t need to post this–the comments are really directed to Fortune, not to general readers.

I worked for Starbucks for almost 5 years in the corporate headquarters in Seattle (known in Starbucks parlance as the SSC). I find it absolutely AMAZING that it is rated one of the best places to work. Many of the things that Fortune sites as making Starbucks part of the best are just simply not true, or, alternatively, highly compromised. The wait for childcare is outrageous, and plans to grow it are non-existent. Parking and transportation options in crowded Seattle are pathetic. There is no stated policy to allow a compressed work week or job sharing – that is at the discretion of your immediate supervisor, who must then get approval from his immediate supervisor and up the chain it goes. Many VP’s react negatively to the idea, so therefore it is not allowed. The morale at the SSC is terrible, and turnover appears to be under reported. I came from a department of 20 people, and in less than 4 years we had almost a 200% turnover! If this is the best, we are in trouble. Big trouble.

I worked for Edward Jones for 5 months. There are a lot of good things to be said about the training and support staff. However, I was surprised that they were not up front regarding their pay and advancement structure. This was also the consensus of the 15-20 other new hires. So I don’t believe my experience was unusual.

I work for Booz Allen and after reading the tirade from Tom, I feel the need to make a comment. It is obvious that Tom does not like Booz Allen. I would venture to guess that he had a bad experience with a manager or client (see comment from Mike, Kansas City). Booz Allen employees are positive, upbeat people. Perhaps Tom just wasn’t a good fit for the company. The environment, people, benefits, and training at Booz Allen are noteworthy. Of course every company has it’s flaws. Sometimes the training can be hard to schedule, sometimes you have to work a project you don’t like, sometimes you wish you had more vacation time; but overall the company has earned it’s place on this list.

Nordstrom is not all it’s cracked up to be. I’m sure the top guys want it to be great, but ultimately it’s up to the store managers how the employees of that store are treated. VERY BAD in some cases; lots of politics. They work you hard and don’t even let you have water in the back room..they will throw it away if they see it on their random little policeing hunts. The ONLY reason there are mostly woman managers is because a smart male won’t work for the money they pay you. Commission mostly..but take it away from you when something is returned…and you know what their return policy is. They personally treated me very poorly when I was sick as well. Also, their insurance stinks!

I’ve worked 11 years at Microsoft and I’ve seen it gradually dropping to #86. However I haven’t seen significant changes other than decreasing stock perf. So why is it down to #86? Or are there other factors like coolness factor (which won’t last)?

Unless you look at stock perf since you mention Google’s $700 stock and the word millionaire. However that’s outdated and there are no such guarantees (stock is down 20%). That shouldn’t be a big factor in your evaluation especially if you intend to stay long-term.

Also 10 things you didn’t know about Google applies almost all to Microsoft and probably other companies, so nothing new.
Last point is that Microsoft has 100% healthcare coverage which Google doesn’t. I would think that’s a big factor as well especially if you’re ranked #1.

I hope you will include other startup companies and not companies who just happened to be in the news.

I have worked for Marriott for several years and it has been a great experience. I’ve had the opportunity to mentor with a SVP, which is pretty incredible right out of school. The company encourages learning through mentoring, training, and job shadowing. I’ve been very impressed with the emphasis on diversity. Also, Marriott sponsors “Spirit to Serve” opportunities to volunteer.

All companies have their flaws and I have found that it really is the relationship with the supervisor and the team of people you work with that makes it positive.

I think Booz Allen’s appearance on this list is shocking and based on a lack of understanding of the Firm and its operations by those compiling this list. Indeed, the firm provides a 10% 401k contribution annually, but an employee has to remain with the firm for 6 years to see it (after 2 years, near the mean service time for a consulting professional, an employee is only 20% vested in the 401k). Further, the initial deposit after a year of service is actually for the prorated term of the first partial year.

So what does this mean? If you join Booz Allen in, say September (after the termination of your education perhaps), and stay for 2.5 years, you’ll receive not 10% of salary for that period, but rather: one fifth of 10% contribution for first partial year and 10% contribution of first full year. So out of 30 months worked you might expect to rack up 3 months of salary. Instead you’ll get 0.32 months of salary! 10X less than expected from a naive reading of this list, or of Firm recruiting materials! I consider this to be extremely deceptive.

Other matters of concern: Booz is a great place if you’re minimally educated, or have a bachelor’s degree and no further professional or technical education. But it’s a terrible place for true professionals – the much touted training programs are useless for those of us who have terminal degrees, and the internal training has absolutely no value if you’ve been to college.

The list goes on – there is a strange mentality at Booz that you’re only successful if you support many different clients at a small fraction of your time. If you support one organization, even if you have many clients within that organization, you are considered too stovepiped. Further, you could directly generate many millions of dollars of new revenue from a client organization with whom the Firm has a pre-existing relationship and it will count for nothing. However, if you generate 20-50k in revenue across a few different organizations (even if the Firm has preexisting relationships with all), you are considered a great contributor to the team and set for promotion. I understand the value placed on flexibility, but for long-term contracts (many are 10+ years) generating new revenue within one organization is a huge benefit to the Firm’s profitability.

Paid time off – shortly after I arrived at Booz the company changed its policy to wrap sick leave and vacation into one package. So what’s the result? Sick people come to work because they don’t want to take vacation time; people take limited vacations because they have to prepare for the case in which they become very sick for a week or so; new employees have nearly the same amount of leave as senior staff who have been with the firm for 5 or more years. The last one is great for the new folks, but is not so great if you manage to move up in the organization.

Promotions: Don’t expect upward mobility, despite the claims of the organization or this list. They only path upwards is contract management, and moving from Associate (III) to Sr. Associate (IV, considered senior management) is incredibly difficult. Getting hired from outside the firm into level IV takes far less vetting than being promoted from level III, despite whatever proven performance record you might have. And if you make it to IV, don’t expect to move further up any time soon. Most principals and partners at the firm are rather old and have been with the organization for a long period. If you want to make partner, expect 20+ yrs of time with the Firm, or be a famous public figure (e.g. Woolsey).

DO NOT think that Booz is like the other consulting firms to which it compares itself – BCG and McKinsey have a very short partner track (it can be as little as 9 years, coming in with only a bachelor’s degree). Further, their policies are considered “up or out” in which poor performers are asked to leave. Not so at Booz Allen. This is a wonderful place for the lazy and unmotivated to hide. Mediocrity and complacency are rewarded above all else. Remember the team! It’s like being in a labor union whose members get upset if you work to hard and make them look bad; you think you’re working to get ahead, but you’re committing political/career suicide.

So what’s the upshot? Booz is great if you have a bachelor’s degree or less in a field which does not lend itself to any particular career, if you’re not terribly motivated to work hard, if you don’t care that most raises are internally capped below inflation, if you don’t care about career advancement, and if you couldn’t possibly succeed in any other consulting Firm. Oh yeah, you also have to be willing to watch the Senior Leadership of the Firm reverse course on the “Strategic Direction” of the organization every two years, forcing people to make all sorts of silly and misguided changes which will just be overruled by the time they’re actually put in place.

I have worked for Yahoo and Adobe. I think both are good companies. Adobe is a great place to work, the pay is very competitive (they made the top paying list as well) and they have some really awesome benefits. Of course, they won’t give you money to buy a prius, but they do have a 5k dollar adoption reimbursment and really great fertility treatment benefits (up to six IVF cycles!!!). The people are top notch professionals and there is a dignity to the company culture that is rare in the Silicon Valley free-for-all.

I’m employed by Quicken Loans (#2 spot) and find it funny to read about the posts made by other employees (former as well) that are complaining they shouldn’t be on the list. More people obviously enjoyed working for their employers than not. The people who complain, just aren’t good at what they are doing.

Nordstrom is a joke, in an attempt to dominant the high end retail market they have lost what they once stood for. They are slipping fast turnover is so rampant in the 8 months I worked for them I watched about 15 to 20 people leave my department. They constantly pressure you to sell sell sell at all costs. Most management is good at selling not managing. A lot of people are there from other industries, that can’t find jobs in their fields. They are only there until something better comes along.

This is such a bs list. They say giving a “wifi” laptop to employees is a good thing. For most of these employers (I have worked for a few), it just means that you are expected and demanded to work over weekends and at night from home. If not, you aren’t considered a team player.

Why not interview people?

I am really curious how this list is compiled, how the various factors are weighed, etc. I work for one of the professional service firms on the list. Pay, while traditionally low at my firm has been getting better, but still not great. My wife works for a large company as well. Comparing our benefits in all catagories her company is far superior and in fact has many benefits of the companies at the top of the list, yet it is not listed at all!

FedEx is not perfect. No organization can keep 100% of its people happy, 100% of the time. But if you love to take care of your customers and are patient, there is more opportunity here than any company of it’s size for both contractors, drivers and employees. With growth comes opportunity. Don’t let the detractor’s who have left their comments here persuade you. They probably left on bad terms or couldn’t handle the pressure of an organization that has high expectations of its people. I started as a package handler unloading trailers. Through promotions and a lot of effort I have doubled my starting full time salary income in 4 years.

I find the negative comments about some of the top 100 companies interesting. I wonder if that might point out that no matter how good a company or what benefits they may offer, it’s the relationship with your immediate supervisor that it probably most important to job satisfaction?

I am surprised Godaddy.com didn’t make this list, especially for the State of Arizona and its HQ’ed here and employs over 1900 people. Industry Leader in Domains and Hosting and not on the list? You guys should stop regurgitating the same employers over and over.

The employment numbers for the Wegman stores outside of Rochester in NY are surely grossly inaccurate. Total employment in the Wegmans chain was reported by the company at about 35-000 a couple of years ago. But you report the Liverpool and De Pew stores as each employing more than 5000.

People need to ask former Big 4 employees about their experiences. There is a reason why Big 4 has excessive turnover %s.

Once again Plante & Moran has made it to the Fortune list. I hate to say from personal experience that the Fortune list has unfortunately given the Company a chance to hide behind “the achievement” and not confront many of its issues. Despite boasting one of the higher percentage of female partners, the Company is still very much an old boys club. When it comes to moving up, work quality is is a factor, but it often is a small factor. Promotion and compensation decisions often end up being based on politics and popularity. Sadly that means that the Company ends up feeling like a high school environment, where staff members are segregated into groups of popular jocks, nerds, and alternative kids. In my opinion, this environment has hurt our minority staff members the most. I see first hand our minority staff members leaving in flocks, with most of them unable to stay busy despite work quality. I don’t disagree that Plante & Moran is a good company to work for. Its culture is a major reason why I chose this firm over others in the CPA industry. It is however hard to not see the disconnect between the firm’s self claimed culture versus its actions, or the lack of them.

Just 17 of the top 50 companies are publicly-held. Is there anything to this? Like, maybe private companies have more freedom to employ management practices which optimize rather than maximize operating results?

Indoor Environmental Services in Sacramento, CA. is the best company to work for! Everyone from the President down has an open door policy, they listen to ideas from employees, make the environment a fun atmosphere, and best of all compensate their employees fairly. I wouldn’t work anywhere else!!

It is interesting that many companies on these lists have an awful lot of NA yet are rated high in that department. How can a company be rated as a top notch payer if they don’t even have salary statistics available.

It seems to me that it’s more or less a bogus survey to stroke many of the larger corporations egos and to get new people to want to work for those companies.

Why isn’t ENRON on this list? It was a few years ago. I’m just perplexed.

’nuff said re: the quality of this list.

I strongly believe that Cummins Inc. belongs on your list of top 100 companies to work for. Cummins is incredibly diverse; inclusive of all people; values its employees, customers and partners; provides exceptional training and career opportunities AND is socially responsible and environmentally conscience. I am very happy to work for this organization.

Though the statistics boasted by many of these companies seem impressive, my personal experience with Quicken Loans employment is far from positive. True, on the outside, Quicken seems like an incredible company to work for with a heavy emphasis on team development and personal goal-setting, an extensive, hefty monetary rewards program and numerous social gatherings promoted throughout the year. Unfortunately, the five weeks of training that new employees experience is more of a cult initiation than job training. What your statistics do not show is that most of the employees in the company are working at least 65-70 hours a week, regardless of family or personal emergencies, in order to make the sales benchmarks and commission checks that would allow them to even dream of reaching the average mortgage banker salary posted in your statistics. Those that do not reach their goals are “encouraged” to work more hours “for their team” and are put “on the letter,” a letter which often sets an unrealistic goal for the employees to meet within a month or they are terminated. In this economy (in the state of Michigan), most people cannot afford that fate, which pushes these employees to work even more hours. To further encourage their workers, Quicken offers monetary and social rewards, including all-expenses paid vacations, parties, sporting events and dinners. Despite the company’s awe-inspiring celebration in Cleveland two years ago, many of these events do not encourage, and some do not even allow, for spousal participation. Rather, these events often look more like scenes from undergraduate nightclubs or fraternity parties than something I would expect from the number two company on the Fortune 100 list.

I truly wonder if your survey could be expanded to include more questions regarding the non-work-related lives of the employees at these companies. Personally, I know of dozens of marriages, including my own, that ended in large part because of the labor practices and extracurricular activities both explicitly and implicitly encouraged at Quicken Loans. I would really hope that the companies on these lists not only encouraged their employees to set high personal, career-related goals but that they also supported their employees, especially the leaders that set a tone and example for their workforce, in maintaining lives that are both emotionally and physically healthy and ethical outside of the office.

Quicken Loans is the first company that I worked for right out of college and I am proud to say that I will most certainly be here for the rest of my career!

My wife has worked for FedEx for over 10 years and I am curious where they got some of their information. Job Sharing? On site fitness center?

I love how the claim to have a “no Lay-Off” policy. Yea they just pressure people in to quitting by dissolving their routes and telling them ok you have to find a new route and if you don’t you don’t have a job anymore.

And not to mention that aside from the call centers and I assume the corporate offices in Memphis, they haven’t upgraded their computers in many many years.

FedEx used to be a great company to work for but it is not anymore. Who did they ask on these surveys? I’m sure it didn’t make it out to anyone that doesn’t “bleed purple”.

I think your list is more accurate this year because it includes FedEx. This is not news for us who work at FedEx. The people first philosophy is a core value at FedEx along with promoting from within. FedEx is a great place to work at.

Citrix Systems needs to be on this list as well. They are very good to their employees and have outstanding benefits.

Stanley doesn’t deserve to be on the list. This is the company that took over a private contract to provide immigration processing in St. Albans Vermont and immediately layed off 25% of the employees and cut the wages of the rest by 30%.

Lehigh Valley Hospital at 85- not sure why its on the list
The benefits may be good and most employees may be happy but if you are not happy you shouldn’t complain, even if complaints or concerns are legitimate- you will be pushed to the door through behavior that is childish, unprofessional, unethical, maybe illegal that will make you so miserable you will quit for your own sanity. No bonus for you if you have a “bad attitude”. The voluntary turnover numbers aren’t necessarily voluntary.
The key to a great organization is how conflicts are handled. Does HR at Lehigh Valley step in and help unhappy highly qualified employees transition to other departments- NO. Does HR monitor practices within groups to ensure they are complying with best practice HR policies and not doing things they shouldn’t- NO. The is little or no competitive hiring, competitive salary analysis. Frankly this organization has grown too fast- some of the people employed in management positions can’t handle an organization of this size and the influx of people from outside who come to the valley

I work for Methodist…and they do care about their employees and patients. I hope next year we are at number #1

Last year when you excluded Fedex from the list,I thought you had finally seen the truth. Inexplicably, this horrible modern day sweatshop squeaked back on to the list. You need to do a little more research. This company is taking back something from its employees every day.

Edward Jones deserves to be on this list. In the five months I have worked here I have been amazed at the support and resources. Edward Jones does a wonderful job of making me feel like I matter, just as they support us in helping our clients feel like they matter. It is truly a wonderful environment for personal and career growth.

I am surprised that Bank of America is not on this list. We have 8 weeks of paid paternity leave AND the bank gives us $3,000 towards a hybrid if we choose to drive one. BofA is going Green!!! There are so many other benefits I can’t list them here, but they definitely rival your top 50.

how come Jacobs Engneer not on this list?

I am currently employed by Milliken, #92 on the list, and based on my previous experiences Milliken has no business to be on this list. I guess the only reason they are that high is because of their safety record. The benefits leave a lot to be desired, the systems are from mid 1970’s, and corporate culture is very old fashioned. The amount of red tape here is astounding, it is very hard to implement any ideas here. And I am not just the only one saying this, a few employees I talked to feel the same. Needless to say I am looking for a new opportunity as we speak.

I looked at your list, and found it wanting; some of the companies on your list are the most anti-employee companies that are in the US, but yet they made your list—makes one wonder if you weren’t only basing this list on how much they made only, and are trying to stroke the ego of some pertty shady characters…….Microsoft?? Are you joking???

Chesapeake Energy is the best. #1 U.S. driller with a collegial culture unlike any other E&P company – features a campus setting, rowing teams, monthly wine tastings, and an indoor olympic pool among others. They figured me out!

I’d love to see the complete list of surveyed companies and find out which ones are at the BOTTOM of the list!

For people who are hunting for jobs like myself, I’d appreciate knowing which companies to avoid!

I’m so happy to see Navy Federal on the list. I went from the worst job ever to Navy Federal in 2006. We have the best president ever in Cutler Dawson who cares about each and every employee. Congrats Navy Federal Credit Union!

I see Capital One is no longer on the list? I guess that makes sense as I was one of 2600 employees of their Greenpoint Mortgage division that found out we were fired watching CNBC instead of from Capital One management.

I work for Wegmans in buffalo and it should have been #1. My baby was sick for two weeks and Wegmans not only paid for the the time out but told me to come back when I was ready. That is just one of the many things Wegmans does because its the right thing to do.

Whole Foods on the top 50 is a joke. This is a company whos CEO should have been imprisoned for unethical business practices (he posted for 8 years on yahoo finance under an acronym of his wife’s name talking down wild oat’s stock so he could position himself for a bargain). The only reason whole foods succeeds is not because of a briliant business plan but simply because they are a one stop shop for high end and organic groceries. the genius of whole foods expired 25 years ago when it was founded, now it appears that there are a bunch of high school graduates sweeping good business practice and innovation under the rug in an attempt to preserve their positions as high school graduates who the real business world would never dream of hiring.

The MITRE Corporation is certainly the best organization I have worked for in my 43 years as a systems engineering professional. MITRE believes people are its asset, and helps employees to be satisfied, happy, and productive. With its very high average educational level, MITRE is intellectually very stimulating. There is a strong sense of leveraging the corporation to help customers define “what is right” (the concept of “One MITRE”). Employees are free to work across the corporation, are likely to “branch out”, and are free to pursue projects according to their personal interests. MITRE wants people to have a balanced life, and encourages them to be productive in and outside of work. MITRE succeeds at maintaining an excellent working environment, and encourages anyone to help with corporate improvement efforts. MITRE has made matrix management a successful part of its total culture. Finally, MITRE has a consistency of management philosophy across the levels of supervision.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital is THE best place to work. They really care about their employees

I worked for Principal Financial Group for two years and for the life of me cannot comprehend HOW they keep making this list every year. Blecchhh!

Navy Federal is the best company I have ever worked for in my entire 21 year professional career. The company genuinely adheres to the principle of “Cultivating employee goodwill is paramount to the success of any company.” Not only is each member of the credit union highly valued, but so is each team member that draws a paycheck. I am honored to wear my Navy Federal badge.

I found it interesting that, after reading about possible job cuts at Yahoo and that, according to CBS News, their stock has dropped by 25 percent since the co-founder, Jerry Yang took over, they are on the top 100 companies to work for and that their growth, according to this list, is at 16 percent.

I work for American Century Investments and I have to say this is hands-down, the best job I’ve ever had. I plan to stay here until I retire, and I’m only 26. It truly is a great company that really cares about it’s people.

Marriott-
I was employed by Marriott International at their headquarters in Bethesda for a few years and I always wonder how exactly they make this list. Salary scales are extremely low for the industry, benefits are incredibly expensive – so expensive that they won’t let you see your rates during the hiring process!
Turnover rates are low primarily due to the fact that most employees have been there 15+ years and are very complacent with their roles – something that will irk those who like to develop or modernize processes and thoughts as they believe “it’s worked fine this way for 30 years so why change it?”
The headquarters facility is convenient with a cafeteria, day care (very expensive), post office, convenience store and dry cleaners – but in no way offsets the low salary and stagnant atmosphere.

american century investments i have to say it by far the best company to work for. they have the best benefits, gym, on top of it they will give you money for anything that can better you. paid study time, alot of free lunches. its amazing to work for a company when you never hear anyone bad mouthing it and wanting out. mr. stowers is an amazing person and everything that he has done for the community is unbelievable. im proud to work for this company and i have never been able to say that before.

What about retirement benefits? That’s fairly important to me and it makes my job #1 in my books. Not all comp’s hand out $700/shares, but what about the total package (the 401k match %, the profit sharing %, bonus opp, medical options, retiree medical benefits, and other benefits)? Your list of things that make a company great just scratches the surface from what I see….

I work for National Instruments right now as an ELP Engineer. Everyone is young, ambitious, and helpful. It is a very positive enviroment, and almost everything that an employee would want from an employer are here. It is a great place to launch and continue an engineering career.

Wegmans is a phenomenal company. The stores have so much variety, the prepared foods are excellent and they have a great Nature’s Market section with lots of organic prodcuts. The only thing I miss from Upstate New York is WEGMANS! I have heard that their 5 year plan includes coming to Raleigh – but they are having issues with their southern expansion into Virginia because workers are lazier than in the Northeast. COME TO CHARLOTTE WEGMANS, PLEASE!!

What makes them great? Have you worked for one of them? Would you like to? Tell us what you think.

Which are your favorite companies?

What do you think of this year’s Best Companies to Work For list?