Google Tops FORTUNE's 2008 List Of 100 Best Companies To Work For
January 22, 2008
NEW YORK-January 22, 2008-Google tops FORTUNE's 11th annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the second year in a row. In the past year, Google continued to mint millionaires as the stock cracked $700, a benefit that helped land Google in the top spot on FORTUNE's list since the company gives stock options to 99% of employees. Quicken Loans graduated to the No. 2 spot from No. 17 on last year's list. This online mortgage lender has been described as "ethically driven" by a staffer and managed to avoid the subprime crisis by sticking with lower-risk, traditional loans. Wegmans Food Markets, who has been on FORTUNE's list all 11 years, holds the No. 3 spot for the second year in a row.
The full list and related stories appear in the February 4 issue of FORTUNE, available on newsstands January 28 and at www.fortune.com on January 22.
Rounding out the top ten are: Edward Jones (No. 4) where 70% of employees in the St. Louis home office received a 6.5% raise last year; Genentech (No. 5) with legendary perks from doggie day care to an onsite farmers' market; Cisco Systems (No. 6) whose CEO John Chambers won praise for his leadership and his blog, On My Mind, which solicits employee ideas; Starbucks (No. 7) where the stock rose 9% on January news that founder Howard Schultz is taking over the CEO post; Qualcomm (No. 8) whose popular onsite primary-care clinic is quadrupling in size; Goldman Sachs (No. 9) who had record sales and profits despite a rough year for Wall Street; and Methodist Hospital System (No. 10) who last year added a new program called "No One Dies Alone," in which employees volunteer time with terminal patients.
A driving factor for the list this year is that these companies excel in creating jobs. The 100 companies on the 2008 list added 67,000 employees to their payrolls in the past year and employ a total of nearly 1.6 million employees; up 16% from the number employed by companies comprising last year's list.
FORTUNE welcomes 17 newcomers this year, ranging from a hospital in Eastern Kentucky, King's Daughters Medical Center (No. 63), to eBay (No. 68), a high-tech, online auction marketplace based in Silicon Valley and welcomes back six companies which were on lists prior to last year's. All of these companies continue to sparkle with amenities for employees: no-premium health insurance (20 companies), subsidies for buying a hybrid car (3 companies), and telecommuting (84 of companies), among others.
To pick the "100 Best Companies to Work For", FORTUNE works with Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Of some 1,500 firms that were contacted, 406 companies participated in this year's survey. Nearly 100,000 employees at those companies responded to a 57-question survey created by the Great Place to Work Institute, a global research and consulting firm with offices in 30 countries. Most of the company's score (two-thirds) is based on the results of the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communications, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts, etc. After evaluations are completed, if news about a company comes to light that may significantly damage employees' faith in management, that company may be excluded from the list.
Any company that is at least seven years old with more the 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible. The deadline for applying for next year's list is March 31, 2008. For an online nomination form, go to www.greatplacetowork.com.
The complete "100 Best Companies to Work For" package can be found at www.fortune.com/bestcompanies and includes several Web-exclusive features:
- "100 Best Companies to Work For" by state, size, best benefits, biggest bonuses, job growth, lowest turnover, highest % women, and most diverse
- All-stars - companies that have made the list every year
- Interactive maps, video, and blogs where readers can sound off on what they think of this year's list
- A "Find the Right Company for You" tool
- Gallery of 25 top paying companies
Contact Information:
Katy Reitz
FORTUNE
212-522-6724
katy_reitz@timeinc.com
Erin Clinton
FORTUNE
212-522-4071
erin_clinton@timeinc.com
Great Place to Work Institute
Lee Weinstein
503-708-0402
lee@leeweinstein.biz
