Time Inc.

FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For

January 22, 2009

(New York, January 22, 2009)—In the latest issue, FORTUNE reveals its 12th annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, 73 of which are still hiring. The list is available now at fortune.com/bestcompanies. Some highlights from this year’s list:

-NetApp tops the list, followed by No. 2 Edward Jones and No. 3 Boston Consulting Group.
-73 companies on the list are hiring. On fortune.com/bestcompanies, each company profile includes a list of open positions available at the company, provided by Simply Hired, Inc.
-Google, which was #1 on the list for the past two years, moves to #4 for the 2009 list.
-California has the highest number of companies on the list (15), followed by Texas (14) and New York (9).
-15 companies made the list for the first time in 2009, including Zappos.com (No. 23), DreamWorks Animation SKG (No. 47), salesforce.com (No. 55), T-Mobile (#96), Accenture (No. 97) and Vanderbilt University (No. 98).
 
NetApp, which topped the list this year, is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., employs 5,000 people in the U.S. and catapulted to No. 1 after six years on the list because, write list authors Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, of “its employee enthusiasm for the legendary egalitarian culture.”
 
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 2 Edward Jones, No. 3 Boston Consulting Group, No. 4 Google, No. 5 Wegmans Food Markets; No. 6 Cisco System, No. 7 Genentech, No. 8 Methodist Hospital System, No. 9 Goldman Sachs and No. 10 Nugget Market.
 
To select the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” FORTUNE works with Levering and Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute—a global research and consulting firm with offices in 30 countries—to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. More than 81,000 employees from 353 companies responded to the 57-question survey created by the Institute. Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees. The remaining third is based on the Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about demographics, pay and benefits, and open-ended questions on philosophy, communication and more.

See below for complete list and rankings.

Inside FORTUNE

Good to Great Author Jim Collins Tells FORTUNE, “Great Companies Manage For the Quarter-Century”
Jim Collins, author of Built to Last and Good to Great, tells FORTUNE’s Jennifer Reingold about how great companies can handle, and have handled, recessions:
-“In times of great duress, tumult, and uncertainty, you have to have moorings. Companies like P&G, GE, J&J, and IBM had an incredible fabric of values, of underlying ideals or principles that explained why it was important that they existed.”
-“What we have found is that what really matters is that you actually have core values—not what they are. The more challenged you are, the more you have to have your values. You need to preserve them consistently over time.”
-“If you do not find a way to get…great people, you’re not thinking long term enough. In the long-term research into tumultuous environments…we find that great companies manage for the quarter-century.” http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/15/news/companies/Jim_Collins_Crisis.fortune/index.htm

12 Tips On How to Keep Your Job: The New Do’s and Don’ts of the Workplace
FORTUNE’s Jia Lynn Yang provides 12 tips on how to keep your job in this economic climate, including:
-Do create a paper trail: “Copy your boss on e-mails (selectively!).”
-Don’t telecommute: “Working from home or part-time makes it harder for your boss to know you, so avoid it if you can.”
-Do stay informed: “Set a Google alert for your company so you’re up on what’s going on.”
-Don’t be eccentric: “It’s time to fit in completely.”
-Do volunteer for more work: “Do it with a smile, and you’re a dream employee.” http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0901/gallery.yang_bestcompanies_tips.fortune/index.html

Zappos, Debuting On Best Companies List at No. 23, Provides a “Model of How to Manicure Culture”
FORTUNE’s Jeffrey M. O’Brien profiles Zappos.com, whose debut at No. 23 “is the highest-ranking newcomer  on the list of the Best Companies to Work For. For nearly ten years the online retailer has sold shoes and, increasingly, apparel and electronics to fawning customers who love the policy of free shipping in both directions. Zappos is also adored by employees, providing a model of how to manicure culture and treat staffers like adults, while simultaneously reassuring them that sometimes it’s okay to behave like children.” O’Brien writes that innovative cultural touchstones of Zappos, such as managers being encouraged to spend 10% to 20% of their time with team members outside of the office, improve communication, increase trust and build friendships, helping the long-term bottom line.

Netflix Founder and CEO Tells FORTUNE: “You Want to Be Like Aspirin”
Netflix founder and CEO Fred Hastings tells FORTUNE about the secrets of his business success:
-Stay flexible: “We named the company Netflix, not DVDs by Mail, because we knew that eventually we would deliver movies directly over the Internet. DVDs will be around for a long time, but we’re building for the day when they’re not.”
-Target a specific niche: “When they’re an ache, you want to be like aspirin, not vitamins. Aspirin solves a very particular problem someone has, whereas vitamins are a general ‘nice to have’ market.” http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/15/news/companies/Zappos_best_companies_obrien.fortune/index.htm

When the Economy Rebounds, “Lukoil May Be the Oil Company Best Suited to Take Advantage”
FORTUNE’s Barney Gimbel writes about Russian oil company Lukoil, “It’s a company that mirrors Russia right now. Back in the summer it looked as though it was on top of the world. In less than 20 years after a clever young bureaucrat put it together from the remnants of the Soviet oil industry, the company had managed to become not just a global player in petroleum but also the face of Russian business abroad … [But] when the prices of commodities, including oil, collapsed, so did Russia’s economy … When [the economy rebounds], Lukoil may be the oil company best suited to take advantage. The reason is simple: Much of the world’s remaining energy resources are located in countries off-limits to most Western oil companies.”

Full List of FORTUNE’s 2009 100 Best Companies to Work For
1.    NetApp
2.    Edward Jones
3.    Boston Consulting Group
4.    Google
5.    Wegmans Food Markets
6.    Cisco Food Systems
7.    Genentech
8.    Methodist Hospital System
9.    Goldman Sachs
10. Nugget Market
11. Adobe Systems
12. Recreational Equipment (REI)
13. Devon Energy
14. Robert W. Baird
15. W.L. Gore & Associates
16. Qualcomm
17. Principal Financial Group
18. Shared Technologies
19. OhioHealth
20. SAS
21. Arnold & Porter
22. Whole Foods Market
23. Zappos.com
24. Starbucks
25. Johnson Financial Group
26. Aflac
27. QuikTrip
28. PCL Construction Enterprises
29. Quicken Loans
30. Bingham McCutchen
31. CarMax
32. Container Store
33. JM Family Enterprises
34. Umpqua Bank
35. Kimley-Horn & Associates
36. Alston & Bird
37. TDIndustries
38. Microsoft
39. Paychex
40. EOG Resources
41. Camden Property Trust
42. Plante & Moran
43. Rackspace Hosting
44. NuStar Energy
45. King’s Daughters Medical Center
46. American Fidelity Assurance
47. DreamWorks Animation SKG
48. Mattel
49. Intuit
50. Burns & McDonnell
51. Ernst & Young
52. Booz Allen Hamilton
53. Stew Leonard’s
54. Erickson Retirement Communities
55. Salesforce.com
56. KPMG
57. Novo Nordisk
58. PricewaterhouseCoopers
59. Scripps Health
60. Scottrade
61. Deloitte
62. Griffin Hospital
63. Mayo Clinic
64.  Milliken
65. Texas Instruments
66. MITRE
67. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
68. Southern Ohio Medical Center
69. National Instruments
70. Stanley
71. Men’s Wearhouse
72. Nordstrom
73. Chesapeake Energy
74. Alcon Laboratories
75. Atlantic Health System
76. Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network
77. Northwest Community Hospital
78. Marriott International
79. Baptist Health South Florida
80. Bright Horizons
81. S.C. Johnson & Son
82. Perkins Coie
83. eBay
84. Juniper Networks
85. Arkansas Children’s Hospital
86. CH@M HILL
87. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
88. Publix Super Markets
89. Herman Miller
90. FedEx
91. Gilbane
92. Four Seasons Hotels
93. Valero Energy
94. Build-A-Bear Workshop
95. Klimpton Hotels & Restaurants
96. T-Mobile
97. Accenture
98. Vanderbilt University
99. General Mills
100. SRA International